Broken Branches
by BluePanedGasMask
Summary: Desperate times have always called for desperate measures. But do the ends truly justify the means? How much blood are you willing to spill in order to ensure the survival of the human race? The survival of your friends, of your family. For you to simply survive? The answer? As much blood as it takes. (Slow burn RubyxOC)
1. Chapter 1

Broken Branches

 ** _'Thoughts'_**

 ** _"Speech"_**

 ** _I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended._**

* * *

Remnant was at war. Yet to the dark foreboding figure, looking out across the sprawling city of Vale from his vantage point atop a apartment balcony, it didn't seem that way. The night was young yet activity and light still lit up the street. Nightclubs, bars, restaurants. Neon signs, flickering lights and blaring music. Not anything he would associate with a city at war. Where were the night patrols, scouring the streets for vermin, both in human and other form? Where were the bastions, the checkpoints, spreading their safety through kill zones and bolt shells? Cameras, Arbites, sentries? The cloaked figure shook his head in disappointment. It made it too easy. For both him and the greater enemy. He guessed that he should be used to it by now after spending so much time in this flawed haven.

He returned to his work, paying the sights no mind, as he proceeded to remove several lock picks from within the confines of his cloak. Oh, this wasn't his apartment. Too open and vulnerable. Give him a cramped underground bunker any day. At least then he didn't have to worry about snipers shooting at him from ABSOLUTELY ANY DIRECTION! Seriously, who made this apartment? There was barely a solid wall in sight, and even they were dubious. The structure relied on glass to hold itself up. It was in the dead centre of the city so had been built at the top of a large apartment complex, so someone could see across all of Vale. And may as well have said to any enterprising assassin 'Hey! I'm up here! You can shoot me from any other building in Vale!'

'What are you doing here, Armis you fool!' The man sighed. 'For the Emperors sake, they better be paying you well for this.'

BZZT BZZT

'Speak of the devil' Armis thought, rolling his eyes. Still working on the lock (stupid dust tumblers), he reached once again into the folds of his cloak, pulling out a scroll. With two hands griping the scrolls handles, he extended it, a finger tapped the highlighted button and he held it to his ear.

"Armis here."

There was a small blurt of static before his caller replied.

"This is Inspector One. Please use the code name assigned to you." A small pause before the voice continued. It was thick with static but Armis could recognise who it was. Owen was his official handler for missions like this. Whatever 'this' was. "Have you got into the target's apartment?"

"Almost. Hold on."

Armis held the two locks steady, slowly easing the locks tumblers into their correct places. Still holding the phone, he took out an energy bar and after peeling the wrapper in half, began munching down on it.

"Are you eating something?" Owen questioned.

"No." Armis mumbled, his mouth full, crumbs of oats spilling into his cloak. Armis cursed inwardly. Stuff like this doesn't just fall out. That will take hours to get out of the endless depths of his camo-cloak. Damn, it might even disrupt the weave.

The scroll blurted again. "Can I have some?"

Finishing the last of the bar, and swallowing what remained within his mouth, just as the locks to the apartment gave way to his attentions, Armis proceeded to store his tools, and slowly open the door. The well-oiled hinges made no noise as it swung inwards. Another flaw to add to downfall of this apartment. Covered head to toe in a black shroud of cloaks complete with a hood, Armis trusted in the light absorbing fabric of his camo-cloaks to make himself practically invisible in any sort of darkness.

"No."

"Awww. Anyway, your looking for one small emerald jewel, the shape of a teardrop. It contains the target's ID and clearance codes, that allows her to enter Beacon."

Armis lifted his hood up over his head, and snuck into the room. Now all he needed to focus on was the noise he produced. For this was the hard part. The vulnerability of this apartment was likely countered by the endless array of traps, alarms and hidden defences scattered throughout the room. Heavily armed guards or even some Abominable Intelligences, these frankly insane people use were likely posted nearby, ready to storm the building and respond to any intruders. And worst was the target herself. The target was a trained Huntswoman. Hell, the woman was a teacher of some of the supposedly best Hunters on Remnant. Trained to track and kill Grimm, the monsters that currently owned most of the world, it would be no easy task to past by this hardened killer, let alone steal from her. The Hunter would be on constant alert, even sleeping. They did not just collapse onto their beds at the end of the day in full uniform. They certainly didn't simple cast their weapons aside to the other side of the room, well out of grabbing distance. And they definitely didn't give away their position by snoring… Armis past by a glass table, (what was it with this apartment and glass?) after scanning the room for traps. He soon came to a corner. To the right was a kitchen area, not the right way. He stuck his shadowed face past a white stone pillar to his left, before quickly retreating.

'What was that sound?' Armis pondered. Come to think of it he had heard it ever since he entered the room. Armis could hear it again from around the corner and he slowly inched his head closer until he could get a good luck at the rest of the room. 'It sounds like… OH COME ON!'

Lying in the open was the target. Collapsed on the large double bed that dominated the centre of the room, fully clothed and in her work clothes was the target. There was nothing around the target except, strangely, for something lying on the other side of the room, far away from the sleeping woman.

"Owen?" Armis spoke into his scroll. "What is the targets preferred weapon of choice?"

"One moment." Owen replied, before a small mumble of; "Use the code names man."

Armis tried to get a better look at whatever was on the floor.

'It looks like a…'

"A whip. Glynda Goodwitch's preferred weapon is a whip."

Armis froze. 'No. No no no.' This is too easy. Too too easy. Did she know he was coming? He was being set up. Thinking about it, why was there a dust key lock on the top floor balcony, not some electrical crap the rest of Vale used. She has a data encoder but only a simple tumbler lock for her balcony! They must have known he was coming. But what or who had given him away? Owen? No couldn't have been, he doesn't have the balls. Wait could it be… No, impossible. Could it really be her? Could it really be that she…

A rippling snore came out from the woman on the bed. Armis peaked round the corner once more, and could have sworn he saw the woman's nostrils vibrate!

'She is actually asleep.' Armis sighed. 'Stupid Inquisition and that fucking paranoia you bring, you continue to ruin my life even now!' He roared his defiance in his head.

Now to the task at hand. Having deduced that the hunter was indeed asleep, Armis never the less took extreme care moving across the room and up to the bed. Unfortunately, now he was presented with the problem of retrieving his prize, the emerald tear attached to the uniforms neckpiece. Tilting his head from side to side, he debated with himself the best way of removing said jewellery. If the woman was awake she would definitely be held as being quite beautiful, in a strict and professional manner. But asleep and peaceful, away from stress, she was quite cute as well. Her glasses were still upon her face, if a little lob sided. Her uniform was creased, yet surprisingly clean, the black skirt/corset combo giving way to a white, skintight suit that hugged her body up to her hands where it ended in frills. Hell, she still had a black and purple tendril cape attacked to her shoulders by golden clasps. Even her hair remained in a perfect blonde bun complete with few twirls of hair to the right side of her face, as though it had just been styled. A few adorable hairs had still fallen across her face though, it almost made Armis want to…

'Damn it, Armis Zwolf, focus.' He thought as reaching forward, slowly, and tentatively, he used both of the two index fingers on his hands to lift the gem away from the woman's neck. A simple clasp held it in place.

'A small tug should do the trick if I got the right angle.' But as Armis leant forward, something shifted, under his cloak and a crease in the material flattened allowing the crumbs of an energy bar, to spill down from his cloak right onto Goodwitch. Armis paused for a moment and looked down at the woman beneath him. The crumbs lucky hadn't fallen on her face, and only a cringe of discomfort before settling back down to sleep, signaled any reaction. The crumbs had missed he face completely and fallen below her neck piece, slipped past the gap in her uniform and in-between her…

'Ah. Time to leave.' Armis thought as one last tug freed the emerald, and he tucked it within the folds of his uniform, while slowly lowering his two index fingers, to rest the clasp gently back onto Glynda's neck. Retracing his steps a bit too quickly back to the balcony, Armis reopened the balcony door and then shut it behind him. He made sure to re-lock the door to prevent any unnecessary suspicions. Back in the open air, his scroll still on his face, held up by a increasingly tiring hand, Armis reported back to Owen.

"Object secure, target is unaware. For now."

"Ok good job. Now onto the next objective."

Armis smiled. "Finally. Beacon Academy."

* * *

"Oh how are you gonna get down from a twenty storey apartment complex?"

Armis chuckled as he swept his cloak to the side for the moment with an arm, to reveal a boxy metal backpack. Of sorts. Slung over his shoulder, two metal thrusters, similar to smaller versions of Beacons air transport, the Bullheads, except thicker in proportion and less circular. Much less circular. These more resembled steel blocks. Attached to the main backpack by thick-segmented pipes, they were fed fuel from a drum that made up most of the design.

"Oh you know. I'll jump." Armis backed up a few steps before sprinting towards the edge.

"Wait wha-"

Armis jumped, planting a foot firmly upon the metal railing of the balcony and pushed off the edge, into the rush of the cold night air.

* * *

In the morning, as the sun just crested the horizon, a Bullhead, with the Beacon Academy logo emblazoned along the side, carried the weekend students who had decided it was a good idea to spend the last day of the weekend in a nightclub hotel. Most of the students on board were nursing several stages of a hangover and were seriously regretting their decisions. That they had to take the extra early 'Bullhead Bus' as many had taken too call it, didn't make things any easier. And the only person even remotely happy about their situation was also the only under aged person among them.

Ruby Rose was darting around the Bullhead, roses slowly piling up around her, or floating around the place as she dashed though piles of her own petals.

"Yesterday. Was. AWESOME! I can't wait to tell Team JNPR!" The dark haired little girl cried, to the anguish of the rest of the passengers. Ruby's blood red cloak flew to her side as her fist flew into the air. "We were dancing, and running, and jumping, and Yang was even able to-"

"Woah sis' could you tone it down a couple hundred notch's, my head hurts." Her gold haired older sister moaned, clutching her head.

"Sorry Yang." Ruby giggled, then looked around the bullhead, to see both the angered and envious looks of the rest of Beacons students. "And everyone else." She finished, a small hint of guilt playing across her face. A few faces mumbled acceptance to the dark red reaper. It was a wise decision. Wearing a black gothic style dress and red-laced corset, complete with long combat boots with yet more red lace, anyone should be quick when noticing the line of 50. Caliber rounds looping around her belt. Her sister only added more danger to annoying Ruby. With a short temper, Yang Xiao Long was not one to be trifled with. With a light brown leather jacket, that ended at her midriff and exposed a astonishing amount of cleavage, and a even smaller mini skirt, she punched things. A lot. The other two members of Team RWBY were Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee, the black of Blake's buttoned vest and ribbon, contrasted Weiss' white dress and skirt.

"I will never again allow you to tempt me into drinking with you." Weiss moped.

"Seconded." Blake quietly sighed, leaning back against the metal wall of the Bullhead.

Yang turned to them. "Come on it wasn't that bad? Was it?"

Everyone behind her began glaring at the back of her head, and Blake and Weiss raised an eyebrow in contempt.

"Was it?"

* * *

Finally he had arrived. Having attached himself to the underside of one of Beacons bullheads, and grasping multiple handholds with his hands and feet, Armis had nearly reached the Academy. His cloak began to writhe and push against him, as the bullhead came into land, the wind generated from landing the craft bounced up from the landing pad. Glancing around from his position underneath the craft, Armis could see no one around. There would be no one around at this ungodly hour, except the people on this carrier. So as the bullheads pilots, rotated the craft around to release the students, which it carried, Armis dropped from the aircraft and became a blur of whirling black cape, as he sprinted for the nearest shelter. As the bullhead fully landed, and the bay doors opened, a second red blur darted forward.

"Good morning Beacon!" Ruby screamed, followed by the moans of the shambling horde of other students. "Come on guys we have combat class with Miss Goodwitch!"

Yet more moans of lamentation and mumbled threats followed.

Armis was long gone, having quickly hidden behind one of Beacons many pillars. He waited for all of the students to pass him by, skirting round to the other side of the pillar to avoid detection. The courtyard was empty for now but it was too open and it was likely teacher were watching from the windows at the returning students.

"Any real student should be punished severely for returning to school in anything but peek physical and mental condition. But I highly doubt these people are the 'Whip till bloody type.' Although thinking back to Goodwitch…'

Armis tried to find another way of getting into Beacon's main building without exposing himself. Although perfect for darkness, that would be prevalent at night or hopefully within this building, his Camo-cloak tended to shimmer in direct sunlight, if it was moved suddenly. Armis suddenly glanced upwards, and his eyes traced along the ramparts this pillar held up. Perfect. A faint sound of metal piercing stone could be heard if anyone other than Armis was around. Several sounds actually. He was quite adept at climbing for several reasons, if he did say so himself. Armis quickly made his way up the pillar, like a spider, metal claws digging deeply into white marble. He hoisted himself up onto the ramparts and followed it around to a roof fire escape on Beacons second floor. Taking great care not to accidentally stumble into someone, he made his way though the halls, listening for any wandering students and teachers, and into the open lift.

'Come on Owen, you cranky bastard, don't fail me now.' Armis thought as he dug out Glynda's emerald from his cloak.

He flipped open a latch that was underneath the usual elevator buttons, and inserted the tear shaped jewel. With a few clicks and the whir of a scanner later, a soft ping could be heard. It had worked. With the emerald pocketed and the elevator in motion, Armis began a check of his weapons, rhythmically patting himself down.

'Bolt pistols, using knock off dust bolt shells. Check. Stubcarbines using dust rounds, that, Machine God willing, wont wear on the barrel. Check. Transonic Blades. Check and unmodified. Backup blunts and blades. Check.' Armis finished his equipment check. 'Other emergency equipment stored in Beacon deposit box A. Ok here we go.' Armis thought as the elevators opened to a massive underground complex, several storeys high.

This was The Vault. Lined with deep green pillars all along the expansive hallway, it was Beacon's hidden little secret kept right under the noses of every hunter in Vale but a select few. And his target was here. Quickly moving from shadow to long shadow, cast by the dim lighting in the ceiling, Armis became invisible to all conventional means of seeing him. The darkness now wrapped around him like it was now part of his billowing cloak, the genius behind the weave allowing light to be absorbed from the very air, leaving only a blackness behind. Nothing stopped his progress. No guardians, no traps, no alarms. Nothing. It frustrated Armis to not see these things blocking his way. It meant one of two things. Both were frightening prospects. Either there were no defenses, and the vault, 'The Vault's' defense was entrusted to a data encoder and a elevator and there was no challenge. No thrill or adrenaline of encountering an unforeseen circumstance and besting it. Or Armis could simply not see the defenses and the danger. And that possibility. That scared him.

At the end of the hall was the objective. So tantalizingly close yet still out of reach. He had to confirm it was the target. He took his time, checking for any form of resistance before he simple gave up hope for this world's inhabitance. So many advances in technology, yet they forget such important things, while they invested their efforts in Abominable Intelligences of all things. Drawing his cloak around him, Armis darted forward towards the uplifted metal coffins his target slept in. It was a young woman, a psyker of immense power, kept here to be experimented on and her powers drawn from her body to be passed to another.

He would not allow that to happen, Armis thought as he dashed forwards, a strange humming blade emerging from his cloak clutched in a firm grip. Meddling with the powers of the warp was something these people were not ready for.

CLACK

"Stop. Right. There." A voice echoed down the hallways of The Vault.

A second before Armis was ready to leap, ready to end it, a man had just turned the corner of the crossroads of The Vault. Armis immediately stopped, and span around, blade at the ready in front of him, while another shorter version appeared at his side in his other hand, the sick hum from each weapon intensifying.

CLACK

"I assume you went to great trouble to get to this point." The man slowly walked forward, the cane he held impacting the floor sending vibrations throughout The Vault.

CLACK

"I don't know how you got in here, or how you found Amber, but how about we put that aside for now and start with introductions first."

CLACK.

The man's face appeared quite young for someone with grey silver hair, yet in his eyes and his stance was the signs of boundless experience. And sorrow. A dark green scarf, under brown eyes and shaded spectacles, the man appeared almost regal in his black-buttoned suit, a hand rested on his cane.

"My name is Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy." He gestured to this cloaked and shadowy figure, with a mug carrying Beacon's emblem. "Care for some coffee?"

In response to this statement, Armis simply blurred forwards, his cloak trailing behind him and a tide of bullets shot out from within the confines of his blackened figure. Several casings of various sizes, clattered to the ground behind him as he ran. Chips of stone exploded upwards, all around Ozpin as dust charged rounds detonated against the emerald floor, sending fragments spinning in all directions. More detonations sounded as stray rounds impacted the wall at the far side of The Vault. Dust was kicked up around the man, obscuring view. Armis leapt into the air, swords at the ready above his head, ready to confirm his kill and finish the job if necessary. But as he came falling down upon his foe, the dust cleared to reveal Ozpin, still standing, no wounds, no damage, not even a stagger from the sheer weight of bullets Armis had send his way.

'I missed?' Armis thought bewildered. 'How could I miss?!'

Ozpin's mouth started moving, and time seemed to stop as Armis reached within a meter of him.

"You missed because I told you to miss." Ozpin said, in an emotionless voice. He took a deliberate sip of coffee, as Armis just hung there, suspended. "Now. **KNEEL**!"

With the power behind his words seeming to shake the very world, Armis returned to the current time frame, as he was crushed downwards by some invisible force. Weight immeasurable forced him to kneel against the cold reflective floor, his cloak alone felt as through the constriction of a snake was enveloping his body.

'Psyker' was the only thought passing through his head, as he used what strength he could muster to raise his head to his foe. Ozpin hadn't moved an inch, coffee mug still clutched in a relaxed hand. The man then stepped forward and leaving his cane, imbedded in the floor behind him, he reached forwards and placed his hand upon Armis' head.

"This will, regretfully, not be pleasant. Please do try to relax."

Armis roared his defiance, as he felt his mind invaded and his psychic defenses crushed and overwhelmed.

* * *

Ozpin had not expected this when he woke up this morning. Waiting in his office for Glynda to reach him in his clock tower, to be ready for them to convey any changes to the usual school day to the rest of the staff. When she failed to show, Ozpin assumed she had gone straight to her combat class that was scheduled for this morning. However as he got up, grabbed his cane and signature mug from there usual resting places, his computer scroll pinged to notify him that Glynda Goodwitch had used the elevator to access The Vault. He had given her the emerald key to enter Beacon's 'Staff Only' areas and in extreme circumstances, open The Vault. Really extreme circumstances. His suspicions raised and his paranoia playing out the worst possible circumstances, Ozpin, took out his own key and entered a private elevator to access The Vault. He expected Glynda to be down here, examining Amber, perhaps even disconnecting her from the stasis pod, to end her suffering. He hadn't expected a cloaked figure, stalking the halls of The Vault, heading towards the same pod, killing intent in his mind. Not expected, but not unforeseen. He had brought his cane after all. Now as he utilized the full extent of both his semblance of time and his other… more elaborate gifts, Ozpin full intended to read this mans mind, figure out where Glynda was, what he wanted and then wipe his memory. He was surprised at the fight this cloaked man's mind put up. Very few people knew about the power to enter anothers mind on Remnant. And significantly less knew how to effectively defend themselves against such invasions. Yet this mans mind was a fortress, barred and guarded. This was the first real fight Ozpin had had with a mental opponent since he met one of the Maidens. But Ozpin was no amateur, he ran and taught a school of the world's greatest huntsmen and huntswomen and there was a reason he had this position. The challenge excited him, yet it lasted mere moments, as Ozpins mind, simply went around the fortress, destroyed its weak foundations and poisoned the guards. With the man's mind giving way, he began to gain insight into this mans life.

'Armis is his name, Armis Zwolf, also known as 'Metzger' in the underworld. Curious. The next question was where was Glynda. Ah, getting sloppy Goodwitch, she's safe but that's the reason she is late, she has no access key. Why was he here? To kill the Fall Maiden yes, but who sent him? Damn, communication and payment through dead drops. No contact, these guys are good.' Ozpin thought as he continued digging around in this mans head.

As he continued to search, delving deeper and deeper, Ozpin gained the answers he was looking for. And so much more. He physically recoiled as the memories of this man's life were forced into his head. Where he was from, whom he originally served and what he used to fight. And more importantly what he was. How he was experimented on. Cut and stitched. Stolen from, and added too. Augmented with the blood of his own supposed twins, five identical brothers. Quickly Ozpin retreated from Armis' mind as the memories began to overwhelm him. He backed away a few steps and released his hold on the supposed assassin, who stood up, leaving the two at an uneasy standoff.

Ozpin shook his head from the rush of memories and looked up to the cloaked figure opposite, pity and even empathy in his eyes. "You poor man. You poor poor man. So many sacrifices, just to survive."

A chuckle came from under the hood of this shadowy man. "We have all too much in common, both you and I."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"While you were digging around my head, I couldn't help but dig around yours. Being able to read someone's mind is only half the battle. Defending yourself at the same time? Now that's the hard part."

Ozpin continued to raise his eyebrow. The man was bluffing. He didn't know a damned think about-

"I think I prefer moons full by the way." Armis answered Ozpin's unspoken question.

The headmaster's eyes opened wide before he quickly recovered and composed himself. "Touché."

"So now what?" Armis asked, looking around the Vault. "I know the reason for this place, and the purpose behind your organisation. I also know that I have been tricked. That woman back there is both an aura user and a psyker. Like you, she has an aura of great strength, but also a well of immense psychic power. But from what you know and I have seen, if she dies, her power will transfer to her assailant and that is something neither you nor I want."

"And from what I have seen in you is a young man, forced into a body that is not fully your own, judged and ostracised by your people through no fault of your own and forced to fight in situations unimaginably bloody and brutal." Ozpin took a large gulp of coffee to calm his nerves. A plan began forming within his mind. A truly brilliant one. "So I have a suggestion."

Now it was Armis' turn to raise an eyebrow, although Ozpin couldn't see it through the darkness his hood cast over his face.

Ozpin continued. "Now that we both have each others undivided attention, understanding and, I hope respect..." Ozpin glanced up at Armis for any reply.

The hood nodded. "Aye."

"I would like to offer you a position at Beacon Academy."

A small gasping sound was heard from Armis' direction. It took Ozpin a second, before he realized that Armis was laughing. The volume increased until his laughter was booming through The Vault, and his cloak shook and waved. It took almost a minute before he had settled back down again.

Coughing to clear his throat and chuckling a little bit more, Armis finally replied. "As you can probably see, I'm not a people person. You've seen what I do, what and who I've killed. How could I ever fit into a school like this?"

This time it was Ozpin's turn to laugh. "Then you must have been lying when you said you had seen through my mind. Look again. I have accepted a former terrorist into this school. She now shares a room with three other girls who have frequently been known to attack terrorists on sight. I accepted a boy who had no qualification, no references, nothing but a old set of armour, sword and a shield and now he is being trained by the 4-time champion of Minstral. The president of the infamous Schnee dust company is now both the friend and trusted team member of a faunus and I live in a giant clock tower as Atlas sends their military to surround us. Yet I am very much in touch with this fleets commander and though I disagree with this turn of events, I allow a foreign army's general free reign to walk my school. I like to think that this entire school is full of _'not people persons'_."

Armis paused and stood up straighter. Ozpin wasn't lying. "Touché."

"I do not expect you to give me an answer immediately." Ozpin smiled. "How about you go up to the combat area in room G3? There are several students waiting there for Miss Goodwitch to take combat practice. We both know she probably won't arrive for a while now. So go see what the students at Beacon are like."

Armis was honestly conflicted. He had no commanding officer at the moment. No one bellowing orders and no clear path to follow.

'Ahhh hell, there's no harm in checking.' Armis decided. "Very well then. We shall see." Armis told Ozpin, as he drifted towards Beacon's main elevator, and quietly disappeared into the darkness.

Ozpin smirked, as The Vault grew quiet. He had finally found someone with the same power he had and was actually worth a damn. He chuckled.

"Indeed. We shall see."

* * *

 _ **Thank you for reading this first chapter of Broken Branches. I apologies for being quite secretive about Armis' description and some of his actions may not make sense but I assure you this was on purpose and all part of the plan. Sorry also for so little action in this chapter. However i promise you that the next chapter will contain both a full unveiled description of Armis' appearance and a more lengthy fight scene. For those of you who are struggling to imagine what Armis looks like while cloaked, think of him as a combination of a traditional grim reaper, the masked shadow demon from the latest chapters of Berserk (Chapters 339-341, I seriously recommend it, but not for the faint of heart), and Death gun from Sword Art Online II.**_

 _ **For those of you who have been reading my Angels and Fairies story,**_ _ **I have stopped writing it for now, but I do know what is going to happen next and if enough interest is shown I may add more chapters. But for now I will be focusing on this story.**_

 _ **Reviews and criticism is welcome.**_

 _ **Signed by Imperial Decree**_

 _ **BluePanedGasMask**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Broken Branches**

 **Previously in Broken Branches: Armis Zwolf stole Glynda Goodwitch's access key in order to enter the Vault and slay the Fall Maiden. But a encounter with Ozpin has changed Armis' perspective on things. Now he go's to one of Beacon's arena classrooms to see what the students of Beacon Huntsman Academy are like... What could possibly go wrong?**

 **Thanks to all of you who have read my story and I hope that you continue to do so. Here is the lengthy fight scene as promised. Hope you enjoy.**

 ** _'Thoughts'_**

 ** _"Speech"_**

 ** _I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended._**

* * *

Ruby was bored. And perhaps worse Nora was bored. They had been waiting for combat class to start for half an hour by now. The arena was now pretty much deserted, after most of the students left after Miss Goodwitch hadn't shown up, and now only teams RWBY and JNPR remained. After the brief upset of the weekend students returning and Ruby sharing stories of Yang's dubious exploits, to a bewildered team JNPR, there was a long lull of activity and now they were bored. Not that three quarters of RWBY could complain. Any amount of time to recover from their hangovers was grateful accepted and they didn't question their teacher's tardiness.

"…And then she sent him through a window, proclaiming…" Ruby jumped up from her seat and put a foot on the safety railing surrounding the area, like a triumphant hero. "NONE SHALL INSULT THE HONOUR OF SIR POUNCE-A LOT!"

Nora who was listening intently, rolled back onto her back and began kicking into the air, her giggles turning more into mad laughter. The hyperactive ginger girl had been talking to Ruby for a while now and with each story she had done the same thing. Literally rolling on the floor laughing. Her friend, a black haired young man, in an oriental robe, simply held his head in his hands and sighed.

"Please Oum, let Goodwitch get here to end this madness." He mumbled in prayer.

"She probably has something more important to do with Ozpin, with his 'Clock tower.' Am I right?" Yang tried to joked, failing miserably, while nudging Weiss who was leaning back in her seat, eyes closed.

"Yes Yang, you think Goodwitch and Ozpin are doing something in the clock tower. You have said it three times now." Blake grumbled as she tried to get comfortable on the hard stone seats. 'Why they choose this material for sitting students was beyond her, but granted, they were in a school of teenage Aura users so the precaution that something is gonna break was the right one.' Blake thought.

"Does someone want to check and see if Goodwitch has cancelled the lesson and left a note on the door we didn't see?" A redheaded girl asked, her ponytail flicking over her shoulder as she looked to the rest of the class. She was wearing a set of almost Amazonian armour, which appeared to be made of a combination of bronze and some other burnished metals.

"Good idea Pyrrha!" Ruby said as she jumped up off her seat and walked down the stairs towards the door.

"Just a few more minutes." Weiss whispered to Yang, as she turned and leant against her shoulder. Yang was still sober enough to realise a golden opportunity and proceeded to take several selfies with her phone scroll.

Ruby dashed towards the door in a straight line, rose petals forming a mini tornado behind her. Pulling open the door until she could get a good look at anything stuck there.

'Nope, I guess Miss Goodwitch really is-' Ruby then noticed the blackness outside the door. 'Who turned off the lights outs-.' She glanced outside and paused for a moment. There appeared to be red glowing eyes in the doorway… huh strange. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed, jumping backwards in fright, tripping and landing on her back.

Teams RWBY and JNPR woke up from their bored stupor in an instant, looking towards Ruby and then they noticing the blackness outside. A hooded figure standing in the doorway, two dim glowing orbs of red emanating from within the darkness. It was like something from a horror movie and the teams just stood their shocked as this mass of black swirling darkness, moved forwards into the room, while Ruby simple lay on the floor, petrified. Yang began to unsheathe Ember Celica, allowing it to extend up her arm, and was ready to defend her sister, by jumping at the monster, but the thing beat her to it.

"Greetings students. I am Mr Zwolf. And I will be taking over Miss Goodwitch's class this morning." A voice came from the darkness.

* * *

As his words finally settled into the two teams members, they slowly lowered and sheathed their weapons. Ruby was still on the floor, staring at this cloaked figure. He was tall, very tall, and broad enough to fill out the doorway to the arena classroom, but that could just be the cloak he wore. Or several cloaks if Ruby saw correctly. He was definitely human, if a bit strange. He still appeared to be covered in a shroud of darkness, but the powerful light in the room was somehow causing several shimmers to appear in the cloak and allowed the teams to make out the creases in in the fabric giving the figure shape. His face was still obscured, as the hood seemed to cast a deep shadow that gave him the appearance of one of Oum's grim reapers, from the fairy tales. Ruby snapped out of her daze when Mr Zwolf, as he called himself, approached her.

"There is no need to fear me, little girl, and I apologise for my appearance, but there is good reason for me to hide, I assure you." He said. The cloak parted and an arm reached down, offering Ruby a hand up.

Ruby couldn't see past his arm through the cloak, despite how hard she tried, so after a slight pause, she thanked him and accepted his help, getting to her feet. His arm seemed quiet thin and sickly, like a man starved for days, but his hand was fully proportioned and his skin was a healthy shade, while his grip firm and the hand itself strong, effortlessly lifting her too her feet. Ruby even felt her lift of the ground for a second.

"Now return to your seat, little girl. Class is in session."

"R-right." Ruby replied, rubbing her hands together, before blurring up the stairs, in a cloud of roses, sitting next to Yang and shuffling close. When questioned to see if she was ok, she simply nodded.

Mr Zwolf started walking towards the centre of the Arena. "I again apologise for my appearance and how late I was. Ozpin and I had a small debate over a new student."

* * *

Back at the clock tower, Ozpin watched from the cameras and took a sip of coffee.

"Cheeky shit." He chuckled.

* * *

The teams who were sitting in a group around the arena glanced at each other, looks of confusion going around. The question on everyone's mind was if this man ready was who he said he was. And what would make Miss Goodwitch come to this man to help. Was he even a Huntsman?

"Ah, you want proof." Mr Zwolf said, as he dug into his cape and an arm extended, holding a green tear shaped emerald. This appeared to calm most of the students siting on the side-lines around him. He returned it to his cloak and took out a clipboard with a single sheet of paper and proceeded to examine it. "Could… Jaune Arc? Step forward and come down to the Arena."

Jaune, a blonde haired boy, the leader of Team JNPR, stood and after looking at his surrounding friends asked; "Anyone else?"

"No. Just you."

Jaune gulped. 'They usually had sparing matches in pairs, so what did this mean? Was he in trouble?'

He gathering his shield and sword and wearing a set of white plate over general combat gear took the stairs down to the centre arena. The cloaked mans hood turned and followed Jaune down as he walked into the arena and stood opposite him, weapons held loosely at his side.

"What combat school did you graduate from?" Mr Zwolf suddenly asked.

Taken aback, Jaune stumbled with is words. "Eh-?"

"How long have you been training before this academy? And how were you graded?"

Jaune continued to stammer. "I'm sorry, how is that-?"

There were looks of confusion and disbelief between the two teams. Why was this teacher asking these questions and why was Jaune having such a hard time with answering? Pyrrha's face was aghast with an expression of shock and horror. She knew why.

"Who accepted you into this academy?" Mr Zwolf questioned, his voice adding a tone of finality to it.

"Ozpin." Was the immediate response.

The 'teacher' chuckled. 'Accepted by Ozpin. Old set of armour. Sword and shield. Found you. Now where is your trainer?'

"So then Jaune, could you explain to me, and give me a definition of Aura?" He asked. As he spoke he began walking closer to Jaune.

Jaune shook himself out of his shock and became determined to prove himself to this substitute teacher. "Aura is the manifestation of our soul. Hunters can use this as either a unique semblance or as a protective barrier."

Mr Zwolf stopped in front of Jaune, just in arms reach, his cloak swinging forward slightly at the change in momentum. "And that protective barrier?"

"Aura is used as a shield from physical attacks or damages. Although this wears upon the users Aura level, it is always protecting the user from harm and-AACK!"

A stunning silence filled the arena, as with a whirl of fabric, a arm and flat hand had whipped out from the teachers cloak, as the man himself darted forwards, around to Jaune's left and struck with a swift chop across the back of the boy's neck. Jaune was knocked forwards, his head arched back with the force of the strike, a strangled gasp escaping from his lips. His eyes rolled back into his head and he landed with a thud onto the floor. Unconscious. Mr Zwolf stepped over Jaune and returned to his original position in the arena and faced the flabbergasted faces of teams RWBY and NPR. He gave way no emotion as he scanned the remaining seven people above him. Only one of them showed a different emotion to shock. And it was quite ironic that the redheaded Amazonian girl was angry first.

"What this man here and many hunters fail to realise is that Aura is not infallible. It only activates when the user is aware of a danger, in combat. An Aura user is just as vulnerable as anyone else when caught unawares." He started. Mr Zwolf didn't need the list Ozpin gave him for this. The hood moved to focus solely on the redhead girl. Now if he was right… "Could the four-time champion of Mistral step forward into the arena?"

All eyes turned to Pyrrha. And then back to Jaune. A few looks of understanding past between Pyrrha and her team mates.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ren questioned. "We don't know who he is, or what he is capable of."

"Yes. I'm sure." Pyrrha answered as she drew both her gun-spear Milo and hoplon shield Akouo, and jumped down the arena. "Someone help Jaune get out of the way!" She called out.

Nora jumped down to the arena with her and slung Jaune over her shoulder, like he weighed nothing. But before she returned to the stands, she shot a defiant look at Mr Zwolf, and stuck out her tongue at him. The tilting of a hood was all she got in return. With the arena clear, the two opponents stood opposite each other, a few paces apart.

"Where did graduate combat school?"

"Sanctum, Mistral."

"Who accepted you into this Academy?"

"Ozpin."

"Where do your loyalties lie?"

A pause.

"As I thought."

"With my team! I fight for them, not Mistral or Ozpin. I fight for THEM!

"Good answer. What is your semblance?" The hooded figure then began circling around Pyrrha, who did the same, both knowing what would soon follow.

"How about you come and find out!" Pyrrha shouted, her spear extending and shield at the ready.

A laugh echoed out across the silent arena. "My thoughts exactly."

* * *

Pyrrha surged forwards, her spear back ready to extend and strike. But Mr Zwolf simply jumped backwards, cloaks billowing back and spreading out in a whirling pattern, still revealing nothing underneath. While in the air, multiple explosions of sound light and metal, shot out from within the darkness of the man's silhouette. Bullets impacted against Pyrrha's shield as she continued to push forward towards her target. However, her shield was simply too small to block all of the countless rounds of ammunition flying her way. Most were absorbed or deflected by her aura, but some of the bullets struck harder than others. A round glanced off the top rim of her shield and would have passed harmlessly by her head, if it hadn't detonated directly in front of her face. Her aura was strong and she took very little actual damage, but the flash of light blinded her and the force from the explosion knocked her off balance and she stumbled.

"Pyrrha, look out! In front of you!" Someone screamed.

Combat instincts kicked in and a mental map of the arena, herself and her shadowy opponent appeared in her head. She was blinded and staggering, her opponent believed her guard to be down. Most would panic and take an easy strike from a more experience opponent. But she did not panic. What did you do when you see an easy opening? You go straight for it. And reveal your hand. Pyrrha continued playing the panicking student, but as she felt the displacement of air in front of her, she pushed forwards once more and swung her shield across her body. A rewarding crunch and grunt of pain followed and as she regained her sight, she twirled around to see that she had sent her assailant flying to the left. Mr Zwolf landed on his knees, and fell on all fours, although his arms were not visible.

"Damn." He spluttered, his voice slightly more garbled than normal. "Haven't been hit that hard in a while."

The cloaks moved to a standing position and the hood turned to the side. From within, a small piece of white bone, accompanied by a splatter of red liquid, was spat out. A pair of humming swords rose from the darkness, behind the layers of black fabric. He held them at the ready, as he started moving towards his foe. They were a dark shade of turquoise that seemed to glow as small jolts of lightning blade across the blades. One was smaller than the other but they were otherwise identical, one-sided blades each built more like a crude machete than a katana. Pyrrha began to feel something funny in her stomach and she felt that these swords were to blame. She ignored it and ran forwards to meet her opponent. A barrage of slashes and stabs met her, but each she dodged or knocked aside with her spear. Metal finally met metal as a humming blade struck Pyrrha's shield and was easily defected to the side, along with the hand that held it. Her spear, struck out and punched through a layer of cloak, but with so little resistance, Pyrrha doubted she had landed a hit. Mr Zwolf's second blade, the shorter of the two, cut past her head as she ducked underneath, getting in close, right under his guard. She retracted her spear into a short sword to allow for better control in this close quarters combat. She had an opening, by now she could get a good approximation of where his body would be under the cloak. But before she had the chance, she felt an impact against her face knocking her down, while the cloak swirled past her. Several more blunt strikes rained down upon her, before she was able to break away from the man's cloak and regain her bearings.

'How had I taken that first hit?" Pyrrha thought. "I clearly remember, blocking the sword and dodging his dagger swing. I was in too close for him to take a swing at me that quickly. And the hits felt like punches, not the blade of a sword or the flat of a hilt."

The audience was thinking the same thing. At first they were cheering, seeing Pyrrha land the first solid hit, and then easily dodge and deflect Mr Zwolfs attacks. She even seemed to get in another hit, and was able to get in close enough for a second strike, when suddenly she was sent reeling back and put on the defensive. No one saw where the strikes had come from, and they all had seen where Mr Zwolf's hands were, holding his blades too far away from Pyrrha to reach her. He advanced once again and Pyrrah took a more defensive stance in order to figure out what was going on. Was this his semblance? The feeling in her stomach increased as the blades he held, grew louder and the metal swords looked like they were beginning to vibrate. She brought her shield closer to her body and then thrust forward as the two blades came down together in a double stroke. Yet instead of stopping the blades and smashing them aside, as it had just moments before, they simply past straight through, leaving two giant rents in the metal. The blades only stopped for a moment over her skin, and at first she feared they would continue and sever her arm. But they remained hovering there, a centimetre away, before tracing around her arm and finishing their job on her shield. But he wasn't finished yet. As Akouo split into three pieces and fell off her arm, Mr Zwolf continued his assault. He seemed to be growing faster, and she feared to parry his strikes with her weapon, in case it was torn apart as well. More of his strikes were landing now, yet Pyrrha felt no drop in her aura, or at least very little. And Mr Zwolf seemed to notice it too. As another useless hit landed, Pyrrha, gripped her spear in two hands and twirled it around, causing the man to jump backwards.

Pyrrha could just about hear a mumble of "Stupid Aura" and something about a sonic blade? Mr Zwolf then returned his two blades to his cloak and pulled out his hands once again. Pyrrha saw his hands now gripping a sort of punching gauntlet. A black leather glove with silvery metal plates attached to the knuckles. A smile almost made its way onto Pyrrha's face, but she remained vigilant, face straight. Metal she could work with. Meeting again at the centre of the arena, the two exchanged blows. Mostly probing strikes on Mr Zwolf's part and sweeps of her spear, to keep him away by Pyrrha. A stab from Pyrrha's spear, led Mr Zwolf to twirl to the side, the spear tip passing harmlessly behind him as he rolled past it and got in close. His cloak once again enveloped Pyrrha, obscuring her view of where her opponent exactly was. In such close proximity, Pyrrha could no longer dodge, and a devastating barrage of punches connected with her. This man was fast. Too fast. She could feel each impact against her aura, and it was as though she was being struck in half a dozen places at the same time, again and again. She couldn't take much more of this. Swinging her spear in a wide arc, again meeting no resistance, but the air forced apart by the weapons passing, caused a layer of cloak to shift and one of Mr Zwolf's fists became visible. She felt the metal coving the hand and subtly moved it into a perfect position and she readied her spear for a disarming stab. Even with aura, enough precise force, that when delivered to a precise spot on the arm, would cause the nerves in the arm to go numb and useless. With the speed of her strike and her semblance of polarity, there was no chance the dodge.

* * *

Ruby was getting worried. Pyrrha had getting hurt more and more and didn't seem to be countering. Similar looks of concern filled the stands. Ruby didn't think Pyrrha had landed any solid hits on Mr Zwolf, except the first shield bash. And however devastating that blow had been, Ruby had no way of knowing how much Aura damage that had done.

'Wait…' Ruby thought, looking down into the arena to where Mr Zwolf had been struck by Pyrrha's shield. A metre or so away from the arena wall was a small puddle of blood. 'And a tooth?'

Looking at Mr Zwolf who was currently, in a stalemate with Pyrrha trying to get in close while the redheaded girl kept him at bay with her spear. Why hadn't he used his Aura? He had even made a point about how Aura activated when he first arrived. Ruby glanced around the arena and her eyes caught the Aura level board. Her eyes widened as she turned to get a better look. Pyrrha's Aura had been in the green but was now rapidly dropping towards the red as Mr Zwolf landed hit after hit. But this wasn't why Ruby was shocked. What scared her was that the opposite bar was empty. Perhaps the system hadn't registered the new opponent, but Ruby quickly connected the dots. She dashed up to the railings of the arena, to see Mr Zwolfs cloak reveal an outstretched arm, and Pyrrha exploiting the opening.

"Pyrrha stop! He has no aura!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.

Too late.

'What?!' Pyrrha thought. She tried to divert her attack past her target but due to how much momentum she had gathered and the panic, she only succeeded in striking higher along Mr Zwolfs arm. Time seemed to slow for Pyrrha, and she got to watch as the blade stabbed straight through his arm, met the resistance of bone and flesh and severed straight through it. A roar of pain came from the hood, as blood sprayed out from the wound, and a line of the red liquid struck Pyrrha across the face. She screamed and leapt backwards from her wounded foe. Horror plastered her face. In all of her tournaments, all of the opponents had aura and would lose the instant their aura dropped to a certain level. She had never physically hurt someone, like this, perhaps maimed them for the rest of their life.

'Oh god! Theres so much blood! What should I do? What should I do!?' Pyrrha brought her free hand to her face, only to have it be covered in more blood. She began to weep. 'I did this!' Pyrrha looked up, but she feared what she might see. She was, perhaps, pleasantly surprised.

Ruby and the rest of the audience had seen what had happened and a collective gasp went out the moment one of Mr Zwolf's arms was sliced off. Silence reined as the arm hit the floor with a thud and blood sprayed across the arena floor. Pyrrha had jumped back and seemed to be having a panic attack, her face, spear and hands covered in blood. They watched on to afraid, petrified to do anything. But Mr Zwolf, although having roared in pain, had simply picked up the arm from the floor and covered both his arm stump and severed hand in his cloak. The blood that had once been pouring from his arm suddenly stopped the moment it became hidden. Pyrrha seemed to be recovering from her panic attack, but this was only replaced with shock as the cloak sprinted towards her, his remaining hand raised in a fist. She panicked and could only raise her arm to block. The metal knuckles struck against the aura protecting her arm, but she could feel her bones shaking and bending at the strength behind the attack.

"We're not finished yet!" Mr Zwolf roared as he drew is arm back for another punch.

Pyrrha retreated from his onslaught in a panic. "But your arm! Your aura-" She stammered as she had to dodge another strike aimed at her head. "I hurt you!"

"I can still fight." He said and he came forth again. "And what makes you thing I'm hurt?"

Pyrrha ducked under his arm. "But your hand! Its-" She was interrupted by a strong uppercut that she hadn't seen coming, connected with her jaw. It sent her flying back and she impacted against the arena wall to fall slumped against it. Looking up she saw Mr Zwolf running towards her again. With two undamaged arms wearing the same black punching gauntlets. Pyrrha was at the same time relieved she hadn't hurt him, but at the same time bewildered at how he still had his arm. The cloak got within a metre of Pyrrha, ready to end the fight for good before he suddenly stopped mid dash and was sent flying into the air by an invisible force.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in my class, fighting my students?" A womanly voice called out from the doorway.

* * *

Looking in from above via the cameras, Ozpin quickly grabbed his cane and dashed for the arena classroom. This wasn't good.

Glynda Goodwitch had returned.

* * *

Something was gripping his leg and hauling him into the air. Armis had been planning on beating this so-called 'champion' upstart and then calling to see if anyone else had the metal to test him. Yet he had found the right opponent immediately. Pyrrha Nikos was a commendable fighter. With both speed and the strength gained from Aura, she would likely been able to defeat him if he had continued to fight at one twelfth of his potential. And if she wasn't so afraid of blood. A lifetime of fighting Aura opponents and Grimm, all of which disintegrated upon death, Armis doubted that she had ever actually wounded another person. But now he was in even more trouble. He twisted around and glared at whoever had just entered and attacked him. Goodwitch.

'Damn it Ozpin, haven't you told her of our arrangement?' He thought, cursing his luck as he struggled to free himself. 'How am I going to get out of- oh no."

"Reveal yourself thief!" Glynda cried, as she waved her whip and another invisible force gripped Armis' cloak.

"No! Don't you dare!" Armis roared at Glynda, gripping his cloak with everything he could. "Don't you- Please no!" Desperation was filling his voice.

And the fabric slipped out from his fingers and was thrown aside by telekinetic force.

"DAMN YOU!" As his appearance and true form was revealed to all those present.

Glynda was caught completely unaware by what she saw. A mass of limbs, weapons and pale skin.

He appeared like a young man, face unblemished and eyes an average brown. His head was shaven bald, but had some traces of hair, re-growing across his head. The man's legs and body were covered in a layer of skin-tight black suit that revealed each and every muscle and curve in his body. It ended up to the joints to his arms, leaving his arms bare. And he had many, many arms. Five, no six pairs of arms, each were pale, and thin, yet his hands themselves were perfectly proportioned. The one exception was the set of arms, that were attached to his body where most humans had them, likely his original arms. They were the same as the rest, except they were a healthier shade of skin.

'Twelve arms.' These were the thoughts that were running through everyone's heads. Ten hands were covered in the black punching gauntlets that he had used in his fight with Pyrrha, while the other two were encased completely in metal and ended at sharp claws. The one arm that had been severed seemed to have disappeared. His entire body seemed to be bound by belts, pouches and holsters, containing various weapons. Different sets of guns, all of which were more blocky clubs than firearms, were strapped to his chest. A number of serrated knives were attached to his arms as well as another dark blade similar to the ones he used previously. More weaponry, could only be assumed to be hidden in his cloak.

Armis was frantically trying to grasp his cloak, which he could no longer see, arms flailing out and hands grasping at the air. And then he saw their faces. And his arms snapped into motionlessness. The little girl, who he had first scared entering the room, had her hands to her mouth, eyes blinking in surprise. Glynda had her mouth open, her arms in the air still holding him in place above the ground, equally surprised. The remaining students had similar expressions of shock. And terror. And disgust. He hated it. Hated the judgements laid upon him. The fear of the unknown always turned to hatred. And he was no different. His fear was of being exposed. His fear was being judged. Armis feared those who had seen him, those who revealed him. And Armis knew how to hate.

He screamed his hatred into the arena, holsters unbuckling, straps loosening, pouch's opening, as each of his twelve limbs moved in lightning unison. Still held upside down by his legs, his arms spread out, each clutching a weapon of some manner. In a web metal and ammunition, any hand that didn't hold a weapon held, a knife or a blade with which he would throw. Another snap of motion as each hand picked a target. Everyone in the room. The initial shock began to wear off on those in the arena, and realisation of what was happening dawned, but there was no chance to dodge. Armis could feel the weight of a dozen triggers and blades as he readied his assault.

The door to the arena burst open. "Glynda drop him!" Came the sudden shout from Ozpin.

Being too bewildered to question him, Glynda did as he asked and released Armis. The many-armed man fell a few metres to the ground, trying to twist round and land on his feet while still picking targets. He landed awkwardly but quickly recovered and brought his arms up again.

"Armis! **Peace**!"

Armis could feel the psychic power behind his words, and tried to fight against it, but to no avail again. His many hands dropped to his side, head down, defeated and broken. He knew what came next. The questions. The poking and prodding.

Glynda walked straight up to Ozpin. "What is the meaning of this! How do you know him, and what is he doing here!"

"I will explain in full detail later Glynda, but first-" Ozpin started before being interrupted.

"No! You can explain to me now. What is he! It!" Glynda shouted brandishing her whip at Armis.

Armis growled and struggled against his invisible bonds, but couldn't shout an insult or get up. The Headmaster was preventing him from doing so. Ozpin shot Glynda a warning glance, and seeing a great deal of anger within Ozpin's eyes, Glynda realised she had said something wrong, and she backed down. Ozpin walked up to Armis's side and addressed the class.

"This is Armis Zwolf. He is Beacon academies newest student." He proclaimed. A few looks of confusion went round the room, but Ozpin quelled any questions. "He is the victim of a forced semblance transplant."

Looks of surprise when round the room, none more so than Armis himself. Was Ozpin defending him? Lying on his behalf? He had taken no semblance transplant, or psychic manipulation. Only cold, hard, imperial science.

"Armis and his five other identical brothers were captured by a rogue group of Atlas extremists. And experimented on."

'No don't tell them that! No matter how you spin it, you have no right to tell of my suffering!' Armis thought, his mind roiling in frustration and rage, as his body tired to move and speak.

'Peace Armis. Trust me.' Came a whisper in his head. Armis looked up at Ozpin. A look of sincere honesty and care was evident on his face. Armis shook his head.

'Please…' He tried to convey to Ozpin. 'Please just don't…'

"His brothers were killed and butchered, and he was strapped down and forced into a coma, while they cut into his body and augmented him beyond what should be humanly possible. When he woke up, he had been changed to what you see before you. His brothers are with him still."

Ozpin's words slowly sunk in with Glynda and the teams RWBY and JNPR. Even Jaune had woken up and heard Armis's tale. Armis looked up at the students. He still saw the suspicion and small hints of fear. But the faces of those around him held other emotions. Sympathy, sadness, and pity. A lot of pity. Armis couldn't understand it. The suspicion and fear was justified, but where was the typical disgust? The hatred and the discrimination against the mutant and the abhuman? While he did not like pity… He much preferred it to anything else he had expected. He was confused.

"And just today, he came to me for help after escaping. He does not trust anyone easily and so he set up this test to find out what sort of students this school holds. All the other academies he refused to join. They do not accept the Faunus as equals, so how can they accept him?"

Armis could feel his speech returning and his arms began to move again. He stood up straight. Now that he could, he didn't know what to say. Or what to do. He looked to see the students fill with pride as Ozpin's impromptu speech came to a close.

"So are we all not equal in Beacon? What sort of people, what sort of Huntsmen and women are we?"

Armis barely had time to react as a red spinning cyclone of roses hit him in the chest. And then it began mumbling and sobbing uncontrollably. Armis was sent back a few steps, and didn't know what to do. The little girl in the red cloak was hugging him and saying things. His arms were out wide, still clutching loosely at his many weapons.

The black haired girl was holding him tightly and Armis could feel wetness against his skin as tears were pouring from Ruby's eyes. She was speaking at a incredible and almost nonsensical pace.

"What? Why?" Armis stuttered, his body frozen in place, but looking round the room for an explanation, help, anything!

"OHMYGODYOULOSTYOURBROTHERSTHATSLIKEMELOSINGFIVEYANGSANDIWOULDBECRYINGANDIWOULDWANTHUGS!SOIGIVEYOUHUGS!" The girl looked up and at Armis's outstretched arms and her face lit up suddenly. "OOOOOOO!LETSTALKABOUTSOMETHINGOODINSTEAD!GUNSAREGOOD!YOURSARECOOLANDNEWANDWHATROUNDSDOTHEYUSE?AMMOCAPACITY?FIRERATE!?INEEDTOKNOOOWWW!"

"Why are you like this with me! Aren't you scared? Terrified like before?" Armis questioned, kind of ignoring the fact that a fifteen-year-old girl was strapped to his chest and trying desperately to take one of his weapons from his closest hand. "And please speak sense!"

Ruby stopped for a moment and then realised what she had been doing. She jumped down off of Armis and blushed slightly. Armis was almost a head and shoulders taller than her and she had to tilt her head up to look at him.

"I don't think your scary now. You were more scary when you surprised me in that cloak!" Ruby narrowed her eyes at Armis. "I shall not forgive this grievance most foul."

Small giggles and smiles were poorly hidden among the students as they got a look of Armis' truly confused face. He wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. Or how he should react in this situation.

"That's Ruby!" Yang chimed in, her signature smirk on her face.

Several other smiles joined it, even from a battered Pyrrha. He could not understand this girl. A few students like the ginger-haired girl were openly laughing. This small dark girl was so naïve and innocent, yet so completely unafraid of him. With a blur of words, she had turned the room, with Ozpin's help admittedly, from suspicions glances and hushed whispers to friendly smiles and open laughter. No commissar could boast of such an act. Ozpin approached him, while the rest of the two teams moved down from the stands, and put a hand over his shoulder, which Armis flinched at.

"Easy 'Mr Zwolf'. What do you think of our students?" He smiled at Armis. He wasn't truly asking that question. The real question was if he would join this Academy.

"Aye." Armis nodded. "I'll join your academy, on one condition."

"Go on."

"I will have my own room."

"I'll see what can be done."

* * *

"Armis?"

"Yes Ruby?" He replied turning back to the rest of the students.

The others became curious as to what Ruby wanted.

"What happened to your arm!?" She shouted pointing at his arms. Pyrrha began to look guilty. "It got cut off and THERE WAS BLOODAND-"

Armis held up a hand, both to silence Ruby before she had another adorable rant, and to show his previously severed arm to the teams. They all gathered closer and leaned in to get a closer look. His arm seemed perfectly healthy, for one of Armis' arms at least, but they could see a line of red flaring skin, and many thick black lines weaving over the line. A second of silence before realization followed.

"I have a medical kit in my cloak and I stitched myself up during the fight. With… the rest of my arms. I heal fast."

…

"EEEEEEWWWWWWWW!" When the cry from a thoroughly grossed out Nora.

* * *

 **And so Armis Zwolf's identity is revealed to teams RWBY and JNPR. But how will he cope with life in Beacon Academy and who was it who originally hired him? What other schemes are taking place behind the scenes? Find out in the next chapter of Broken Branches.**

 **Question time. What is the significance of the name Armis Zwolf?**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Broken Branches**

 **Previously in Broken Branches: Armis defeated Pyrrha Nikos in a arena fight while posing as Glynda Goodwitch's substitute. Now that his true appearance has been revealed to Teams RWBY and JNPR, he has accepted Ozpin's offer to join Beacon Academy.**

 **Guest: Do not worry. There will be more fight scenes with the students of Beacon in later chapters.**

 **Shashenka: I can say that they will have a relationship but I am still not 100% on what kind of relationship.**

 **Bassmallet: Ha ha I can see your comparison. Check out the Maerorus Assassins Temple. I** **would say that I got some inspiration from that and Mistral from Metal Gear Rising.**

 ** _'Thoughts'_**

 ** _"Speech"_**

 ** _I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended._**

* * *

"I will have a room ready for you soon." Ozpin promised.

Armis looked up at the smiling headmaster and nodded once, before turning around to leave. "Ill return in an hour, after finishing some remaining business of mine." He said, opening the arena classrooms door.

"Armis?" Someone said behind him

"What?" He turned to see the speaker.

"Here is your cloak." Glynda Goodwitch said.

Armis reached out and took back his cloak, a little too quickly; he snatched it away from Glynda and nearly took her with it. Three arms grasped the fabric and throwing it over his shoulder until he was once again wrapped in its comforting embrace. He felt whole again. The inquisitor had granted this cloak to him for both the purposes of stealth and the need to conceal his less than imperial appearance. It kept him hidden. It kept him safe. The modified camo-cloak was perhaps the one thing He would thank the Inquisitor for. If he ever saw the son of a bitch again. Armis was tempted to pull the cloaks hood over his head to conceal his face, but decided against it.

The cloak finally secure around him, Armis shot a warning glare at Glynda. "Don't EVER take this away from me again." He growled at her, so that only she could hear, and turned once again to leave.

Glynda would have retorted, but a look at Ozpin slowly shaking his head, once again, made her back down. She would thoroughly interrogate Ozpin later, she thought as she watched Armis walk to the door.

"HEY ARMIS!" A flash of red shouted, as it sped past and met him outside the door. Ruby looked up at him with her hands clasped behind her back. "Come and see us when you're done, okay?"

Armis tilted his head. "Us? And why?"

"So you can hang out with Team RWBY of course!" Yang shouted as she, Blake and Weiss followed them outside.

Yang had reached out to put an arm over Armis' shoulders, but he had seen it coming and swiftly glided to the side, avoiding her. A small frown came across her face, but she quickly covered it with a smirk again. They had begun walking down one of Beacon's hallways, which were empty of students at the moment. Lessons had just switched round and most students were in their next classroom. Yang and Ruby were walking at his side, smiles on their faces. A more understandable reaction to Armis was from Blake and Weiss, who He could hear whispering behind them. Why on Terra they would want him to 'hang out' with him was anyone's guess, but there could be a few bits and pieces of information gleamed from these four if He asked correctly. They wouldn't give up information such as their individual traits and weaknesses or the defences of the school if He just asked, so He would have to be subtle.

"Ok, after I am done, I shall meet you at a location of your choosing." Armis replied.

"YAY!" Ruby shouted. "Operation Welcome Armis to Beacon INORDERTOSTEALHISWEAPONS! Is a go!"

"What was that last-" Armis jumped forwards as the two sisters both pumped their fists into the air.

"BONSAI!" They both roared. They then turned around to look back at their trailing companions, tilting their bodies at the same time, a look of expectation on their faces.

Weiss looked at the pair, and then looked at Blake who wore the same expression of reluctance. "Bonsai…" came the meagre response.

Two bodies and four heads slowly turned to Armis, who was once again bewildered at team RWBY'S mischief. Was this some sort of code? A war cry? A declaration of war? Or peace? Multiple horrible scenarios began running through his head. Should he run? Fight? Armis decided to chance it. Mirroring the poses of Yang and Ruby, he held his right arms up into the air fists clenched. All of them. And then tilted slightly to the right.

"Bonsai...?"

There was a slight pause.

Ruby smile somehow grew even larger. A quiet "yay" of pure unadulterated happiness could be heard, as her eyes somehow found a way to sparkle.

Yang laughed and turned to Weiss. "How come he gets it first time and you didn't?"

Weiss face palmed and shook her head in her hands.

Blake sighed and then looked at Armis as if to say. 'Why did you do what you did?'

Armis was only growing more concerned. Did he just take a test of some kind? And why did only half of them seem to be happy with his actions? AAAAHHH this was so frustrating! 'Quick I must cut my loses and leave before I truly go insane.'

"Where should I meet you?" Armis asked

Ruby broke out of her trance. "Oh, our dorm room! Its number C3."

Armis blinked a few times and seemed to realise something. A frown changed his features and he looked at Ruby.

"Wait… the second one to the left?

"Yes…" Ruby confirmed, confused at Armis' behaviour.

"With C3 scratched into the door because the plaque has fallen off?"

"Yes?"

"The one with the ramshackle bunkbeds?"

"Ye- Wait you've been in our room?!"

Armis face palmed and sighed. "It appears I have some explaining to- ah…" Armis suddenly had a very good reason to be afraid. While Ruby still looked at his quizzically, the three other girls turned their attention to him. He could have sworn their eyes were red. Like Grimm.

"Now listen ladies, this isn't what it sounds like. Allow me to escort you too your beds and-"

That was a poor choice of words. A very poor choice of words.

"Get the perv!" Yang shouted as she pointed her finger at Armis.

'Emperor damn it all!' He thought as Armis turned and ran. 'As they say; Warp hath no fury like a woman scorned.'

Three enraged girls charged after him in hot pursuit, leaving a very confused Ruby out alone in the corridor.

* * *

Sprinting down the corridors of Beacon was doing the only thing a man could do, when chased by three angry women out for his blood. He was trying to run faster. Yang was hot on his heels, Ember Celica along her wrists. Several salvos of glowing balls of fire shot from her wrists, which Armis was able to avoid, scarring the walls of Beacon with craters and scorch marks.

'She remembers that I don't have aura right?' Armis thought as he felt the heat against his face.

Armis looked back. He could see Yang charging up for another strike, and Weiss behind her, rapier out. He could see the revolving cylinder at its hilt. Set to red. Set to burn.

'But where is Blake?'

Facing forward again, returning to his mad dash, Armis got his answer. The girl had somehow gotten in front of him and had just rounded a corner at the end of the hall. A long blackened cleaver, linked to her arm by a long line of black rope hung loose at her side. She swung the blade out to her side and it split into a bayoneted pistol. She then threw it straight at Armis, pistol spinning and firing. Not wanting to deal with Blake's unorthodox and unpredictable weapon yet, before gathering enough information, Armis immediately switched directions. He stopped his momentum and turned left, crashing though a dorm room. The girl, who had been sitting at a stool in front of a mirror doing her makeup, screamed as he rushed past and then took the other exit, just as WBY got to the door. The window. The frame and glass exploded outwards as it broke under Armis' weight and velocity. It fell to the ground outside, but an arm shot out from his cloak and gripped onto the wall. Armis considered himself an average runner, despite his fitness and enhancements and comparing himself to the Aura users of Vale. But climbing…

Armis smiled as he spread his cloak wider so it would hide his body from prying eyes, with four of his hands, while his other arms went to work propelling him up the wall. Strong fingers gripped almost non-existent crevices, while the two metal claws that substituted a pair of his hands made their own handholds. He got to the third floor quickly before glancing down. The three girls were staring at him from the dorm window he had so recently destroyed. He sent them a cocky grin. Weiss however, seemed to take offense to that. Helped out of the window by her teammates, she held her rapier in a battle ready position. The revolver switched to a white setting and a glyph of power appeared at her feet. The grin was soon wiped from Armis' face as more glyphs appeared in a line across the ground and up the wall. Weiss ran at the wall and jumping at it feet first, then ran up the wall.

'Well that's not fair at all…' Armis thought absentmindedly. His main concern was directed at the business end of Weiss' rapier that was shooting towards him.

He quickly reset his grip and turned around, his back to the wall. He couldn't just shoot her; he had a reputation with the school to uphold. He had just got here, and it does matter what culture you belonged too. Murder of a student was frowned upon.

'Wait, doesn't that work both ways?' Were Armis last thoughts before he banished all other thinking, focusing only on stopping Weiss.

Before the piercing weapon could hit something vital, four of Armis' arms shot out. Protected by the hardened leather and metal plating on his punching gauntlets, each hand gripped around Weiss' rapier. The point stopped a few centimetres away from his chest, and Weiss' momentum stopped. He could feel the weight of the blade and the girl pulling down on him.

'That meant gravity was still working.' Armis thought.

Having immobilized Weiss, and gripping onto the wall, he sent a kick that swept Weiss' legs out from under her. She gasped in surprise as she now hung from her rapier, at Armis' mercy.

She looked up. Armis was smiling again. "Don't you dare!" She ordered. Well tried to at least.

"Apologies, m'lady." Armis replied releasing his hold on Weiss' rapier.

A very un-ladylike scream followed Weiss' decent to the ground. Luckily for her, Yang was able to catch her in her arms. Armis could see Yang look up at him. Her hair began to glow and her eyes became crimson red. Flickers of fire played over her head. Armis took the hint, and quickly broke through another window, to escape any more bullets and rockets from Yang. Luckily this dorm was empty and he ran to the door and exited into the hallway. He checked the doors number.

'C15, ok should be down this hall.' Armis thought.

A few moments of running later he was almost there. As he turned the last corner Armis saw Ruby in the hallway, about to go into her dorm. She turned her head and noticed him as well.

"Armis? Why is everyone else chasing you? I don't get-"

Armis quickly interrupted as he heard shouts and footsteps down the corridor. "Ruby I need to get into this room, and survive the next few minutes to explain."

"Wait, our room? Why?" Ruby replied, tilting her head to the side confused.

Armis began to panic. He could hear an enraged Yang, storming towards them.

"Ruby there is no time! Please let me into this room! And please stop your team from killing me!"

"But why would you want to do that?" Ruby questioned once again, head still tilted.

"ARMIS! WHERE ARE YOU!" Yang roared from the end of the corridor.

She was close and Armis was getting desperate. "If you let me hide in this room and then keep your comrades away from me, I will allow you to procure one of my guns!" He said quickly, glancing down the corridor. The moment He said that, he felt something grip his cape and drag him inside. He hit a wall of rose petals that bounced off his cloak.

Ruby looked at him. "Hide! Before Yang gets here!" She explained.

Armis didn't need to be told twice. But where? He glanced around frantically. This room was bright and held no shadows. There were no spaces for him to crawl into. If Yang came in there was no blind spots. Except…

 _A few seconds later…_

Yang slammed open the door, hair burning and eyes red. She instantly saw Ruby sitting on the bottom bunk of her bed.

"Ruby?" Her hair stopped glowing suddenly and she blinked her red eyes away. She suddenly looked very tired and she took a deep breath, calming herself. "Has Armis come in here?"

"No. Why are you chasing him anyway?" Ruby asked.

"He has been in our room!"

Ruby looked at Yang confused.

"He knows where we sleep!"

Head tilt.

"He could have seen something!"

Ruby brought her hands to her mouth and gasped. "Oh no!"

Yang sighed in relief. Finally she gets it. Sometimes Ruby was far too innocent.

"He might know where I stashed the cookie jar!" Ruby began running round the room, taking out a large jar and frantically held it to her chest.

Yang sighed again. Never mind. "Well if you see Armis, call one of us."

Ruby looked up from her cookies, a slightly concerned look on her face. "You haven't been shooting at him have you? He has no Aura remember. You could really hurt him."

Yan felt a pang of guilt but instead of answering Ruby, she decided to turn the tables. "So you're getting all concerned and flustered for Armis now. Never knew you were into 'handy' men." She smirked.

Ruby blushed and turned her head to the side. "No… I mean of course I do! And what do you mean handy man? Is he a mechanic?"

'Ruby was still so innocent.' Yang thought, as she turned around and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Ruby had a hard time keeping up that charade. She wasn't used to lying to her sister, but for what was at stake she would risk it.

'Guns…' She thought dreamily. She looked around the room. 'Where was Armis?' She wondered. She couldn't see him and she didn't see where he went.

"Armis?"

"Here." She heard a call from the doorway and turned towards it.

Armis dropped down from above the doorway and rolled his shoulders. He then looked at Ruby who was looking back at him with a bewildered expression. "What?"

"How did you hide up there?"

Armis shrugged, indifferent. "There's some space above the doorway that I could fit in. I hung there by gripping onto the walls." He held up two of his arms ending in metal claws. "Never mind that, I need to get my gear."

"In our room?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, I hid a cache here before I came to your school to…" Armis hesitated. "Became a student."

He strode across the room and stood in-between the two bunkbeds. He looked back at Ruby. He growled to himself and removed his cloak. He began talking to Ruby as a pair of arms folded his cloak and placed it on the ground carefully and with reverence.

"Usually I don't do this in anyone's presence, so please don't concern yourself with my health."

Ruby could see Armis' pale skin up close now. The black body suit that covered most of his body ended at the start of his arms, and she could see the several overlapping sets of bones protruding from under his skin each she assumed linked to his extra arms. The many-armed man stretched all of his six right arms out and then balled his original hand into a fist. The other arms began wrapping round the original and then the next arms overlapped those and Ruby could see the bones in Armis' shoulder, move and warp around each other. Several sickly cracks signalled bones pushing past each other and resetting themselves. Each grating movement and sudden snap was accompanied by a grunt of pain and Armis' face contorted in agony. The bones in Armis's sides seemed to converge on his original shoulders. Finally with the last almost deafening crack in such a small room, there was silence and both Armis and Ruby let out a sigh of relief.

"What _was_ that?" Ruby exclaimed.

Armis turned around and showed her his new right arm. While to his left he still had six separate arms, to his right He only had one. His other five arms had moved along his body into a position around his shoulder and wrapped around his original. They almost seemed to be absorbed into his skin; such was the unnatural unison of Armis' one arm. Ruby could still see faint outlines running along the length of his arms skin, showing where each arm lay and where each hand rested. It was like he had a tattoo or a sleeve with depictions of hands covering his arm. But other wise, Armis now had one normally proportioned arms and hand.

After a brief pause of Armis flexing his arm and hand, skin and muscle twitching and stretching, Ruby spoke.

"What was that!?" She repeated. She had never seen anything like that in her life. She had once seen someone reset a dislocated shoulder. But the pain Armis must go through to do this. To himself. It was unnerving to say the least.

"That was how I blend in with you people." Armis scowled at her. "Horrible I know, but it must be done. Don't want to be labelled a freak." Armis sent a accusing glace out the window, and towards the Beacon clock tower, where he knew Glynda Goodwitch was hiding.

"That was so-" Ruby started but she stopped as she saw Armis stretch out his left arms. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to bundle my left arms up." Armis stated simply.

He steeled himself again for the pain. He would often have to do this when mingling with the public, either in imperial territory or here in Vale. There was always a chance that somehow, someone would see him under his cloak. In imperial territory that was a death sentence. He felt the bones in his shoulder begin to dislocate and move, shivers of pain sent across his body as they grinding against one another. The pain to perform this however was another necessary sacrifice for the ability to disguise himself. It even allowed him to fit into normal clothes. He could remain like this for the better part of a day. However after a time his muscles begin to ache. And then his bones begin to shiver and move against their constraints. It's like pins and needles, except it's more like chisels and scalpels. And if he needed his arms in combat? Lets just say this excruciating pain was from him cautiously and methodically bundling his arms into one. Imagine what it felt like in the panicked rush of combat.

"Hey stop!" Armis could hear Ruby cry out. He saw her edging closer to him concern plastering her young face, but too afraid and uncertain do take action. "You don't need to do this!"

His arms now fully bonded, Armis faced Ruby. "Yes it is. AGH damn!" He shouted as a sharp jolt of pain sprung up from his left shoulder. He looked down to see a shoulder blade pointing out at the wrong angle. "Every damned time!" Armis brought the palm of his right arm down on the offending protrusion and forced it into its proper place, with a bone-numbing crunch. Literally bone-numbing. Before she could question him further Armis had walked to the dorms exit and put his hand under the welcome mat. He appeared to be straining to lift it.

Ruby peeked over his shoulder. "Errrr… you need help lifting that?"

Armis only grunted harder in effort, and the mat lifted. Taking a large rectangular slab of black metal with it too.

"Woah! Was that always there?" Ruby questioned.

Armis then carried the metal box into the centre of the room. Ruby could now see that it was a crate of some sort and the welcome mat had slipped off. A lid was attached via silver handles at the top and emblazed on the top was a stylized _I_ with a skull at the centre and three horizontal lines crossing the letter.

"No, I only left it here in case I needed it. If I am to stay here, then it appears I will be needing it." Armis answered.

The two heavy latches flew off and the lid was lifted back. Ruby was astounded as the number of weapons this single crate contained. Several guns of varying sizes were held within, although most appeared to be single-handed weapons. A few were missing from their holdings and Ruby assumed Armis had them on his person. Ammo was also stored next to their respective weapons. Armis then reached in and pulled out a shelf of weaponry and set it to the side.

'There is another shelf!?' Ruby wondered, suddenly she had the urge to drool. 'So many weapons. Wait is that… a .75 calibre round? For a pistol?!'

The next shelf held only four guns, although two spaces were empty at the moment. Armis took out the two identical pistols from his cloak and placed them in their proper place alongside their siblings.

He then asked Ruby; "Why did you help me?"

Ruby stammered a little. "I… I wanted to have a look at some of your guns. I love looking and toying with guns, as well as making my own adjustments and inventions. I even made my own!"

'Oh boy, the Magos would be screaming 'Heretek!' by now.' Armis thought, before returning to the conversation. "Very well. I shall grant you your request. Since you told only the truth, I cannot fault you." Armis said handing her the pistol from the top left of the weapon shelf.

Ruby thanked him quickly and then dashed to sit on her bed and begun tinkering with it. She turned it over in her hands, gauged its balance and weight, as well as checking for outside mechanisms such as the firing pin and the safety. She was only mildly surprised to find no safety.

Ruby began mumbling to herself while Armis took out the remaining three and sat on the opposite bed examining his own weaponry. "Well balanced… Surprisingly light… Rounds actually slightly smaller than .75, likely just over .70… otherwise quiet cumbersome… No retracting or shifting mechanism… Embellished grip with an engraving… _Honesty?"_

Ruby looked at Armis. "What is this pistol and is it called Honesty?"

"It is a modified Bolt pistol. Customised to be lighter and smaller than standard variants. And aye. Its name is _Honesty_." He replied not looking up from his task of examining _Honesty's_ three brothers.

"And what are the others called?"

"You hold _Honesty_." Armis lifted the guns up in order. "I hold _Humility_ , _Disappointment_ and _Death_."

"Okay… a bit creepy, but what's the story behind it?" Ruby questioned.

"They are named this way, because I should always start with _Honesty_ and _Humility_." Armis held up the other two pisols and finished his check of them. He looked Ruby dead in the eye. "But it always ends with _Disappointment_ and _Death_.

Silence reined as Armis began to go over _Humility_ , clicking a magazine back into place. Ruby felt very awkward, trying to occupy her mind by going over _Honesty_.

'He gave it to me because I was honest?' Ruby thought. 'What would he have given me if I had lied? _Disappointment_? Or _Death_.' Ruby shook her head. 'No Armis wouldn't have gone that far. Would He?'

She again went through the rudimentary weapon checks, but her mind kept coming back to the man sitting opposite her. He seemed so different. She couldn't quite place his personality. He seemed so confident and… cool was the only word she could think of, when he was cloaked and pretending to be a teacher. But now that he was revealed and had shown her how much pain he had to go through, just to appear normal…

Ruby was finally able to work up the confidence to break the silence. "You really didn't have to go through that much pain to hide your arms Armis." Ruby asked.

Armis didn't look at her as he replied. "Yes. It. Is."

"But we know about your arms! We don't mind!" Ruby argued.

Armis grunted in contempt after hearing such naivety. "While that is true, not everyone in this school knows about me. And although I will become a student here, I will not reveal my appearance to anyone who doesn't already know of me. And even then only for exceptions, such as this. I will trust Ozpin because I know him now. But I do not trust a single other person in this school." Armis looked up and narrowed his eyes at her, placing _Humility_ back into its case. "Even you."

"But didn't you trust me or any of us to reveal yourself to us in class?" Ruby reasoned.

"I did not have a choice!" Armis shouted, his face posed menacingly close to Ruby's. "My hand was forced by Goodwitch when she stumbled into dealings that weren't her own! And if I had a choice I wouldn't have shown myself to any of you!"

"But I thought you enrolled in Beacon because you thought we would accept you as an equal? That we wouldn't judge you?"

Armis laughed maliciously. "One of the reasons I trust Ozpin is because he is such a good liar. To lie is in man's nature, and is predictable. The honest are unpredictable because you can never tell when they are going to lie. And his lying saved all of your lives."

"What do you mean?" Ruby began to lean back, feeling intimidated at this new persona Armis had created.

"Imagine what would have happened if Ozpin hadn't arrived." Armis grinned, whitened teeth exposed. "I would have started with Goodwitch and then gone from student to student. Very few people find out about my secret and live long enough to tell about it."

This time Ruby went on the offensive. The threat of killing her friends was crossing the line. She pushed against Armis' chest, who had been leaning over her, and with a boost of Aura, sent him reeling back against the opposite bunkbed.

"How dare you even consider that? We haven't done anything to you!" Ruby retaliated, standing up and facing off against Armis who towered over her at his full height.

Armis chuckled to himself. 'So you have some fight in you at least.' He would give her some credit. They stood against each other eyes locked and determined to prove the other wrong. "I would dare! And the only reason I stopped was because Ozpin forced me to stop!"

A few seconds of silent tension followed, neither willing to back down, before the door suddenly opened and someone stood in the doorway, holding a Beacon mug and a cane.

Ruby let out a girlish scream and jumped onto of the bed.

'Speak of a daemon…' Armis mused. He had been as equally surprised as Ruby although He didn't react so much. He hadn't hear him approach or sensed him through 'witch sight.' He shrugged. He had probably been too focused on Ruby to notice.

"Did someone say my name?" Ozpin asked, but then his attention focused on Armis. "Ah Armis I was looking for you." He then turned to Ruby, who was sitting with her legs hugged to her chest on her bed. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No sir." Came Ruby's quiet reply.

"You wanted me Ozpin?" Armis asked, curious.

"Ah yes, I regret to inform you that we cannot arrange a separate room for you until tomorrow. So you must sleep tonight in another room. I will however say that you must sleep in a Beacon dorm room."

"He can sleep in this room." Ruby piped up.

Armis turned to her and narrowed his eyes once again. Why would she offer him space to sleep? They had just argued and he had even threatened her friends. Did she have some sort of plan for him?

Ruby hid her face with her legs and mumbled through the material of her clothes; "If he wants…"

"Armis?" Ozpin queried.

He shrugged. "That is acceptable."

"Very well then." Ozpin nodded and began to shut the door, but before he left gave Armis a warning. "Don't do anything foolish."

Leaving the room, as the door shut and silence returned. Armis picked up his cloak and covered himself, and pulled up his hood, his face disappearing in darkness. Ruby could see his body rise and fall as a long breath was inhaled and exhaled.

"I apologise for my outburst. I would say that I was not thinking straight from the pain of bundling my arms, but that is only an excuse." His hood bowed to her. "You have offered me sanctuary, despite my actions. Thank you."

Ruby was taken aback. Again with the sudden personality change. It seemed that he became angry and irritable when he was revealed, but he became more patient and reasonable when he was shrouded in his cloak.

"It's ok." Ruby stood up off her bed. "I'll go get the gang and explain why you have been in our room before." She handed Armis _Honesty_ back, which he accepted, and began walking out the room.

"Thank you." Armis said as he stored the weapon in its proper place on the weapon rack, along with its other counter parts.

Hearing the door shut, Armis replaced the shelves and returned it to his metal weapons crate. More weapons were removed from his cloak and placed back on the top shelf of the crate, after being methodically and meticulously checked over. For each weapon, a small prayer was whispered, in an effort to calm the weapon's machine sprit. At first Armis had not believed in the will of the machine god. Then his guns began jamming, his bolts failing to detonate. He remembered approaching the Magos with his concerns, and had been taught the basic rights for weapon cleaning and maintenance. He had still been reluctant to waste time on such procedures. And then he had witnessed an Astartes Land Raider start up on its own and proceeded to decimate an entire tau gun line. Its crew nowhere to be found. Armis had made sure to devote himself to the Machine god almost as much if not equally to the God-Emperor of mankind, from that day on.

* * *

The moment Ruby shut the door; she dashed down the corridor to catch the headmaster. Ozpin was the one he trusted, so he must know more about Armis. She had pitied him when she had listened to his story. Ruby wanted to help him. To make up for all the horror and sadness of losing someone, five someone's, who had been close to you. Now she had seen and talked to him alone and up close, she had seen how hostile he had been towards her and her comrades, she could only pitied him more. His life had been irreversibly changed, through no fault of his own and his fate had been taken into someone else's hands. She needed to know more about him.

Quickly catching up to Ozpin at the stairs, using her semblance, she found him waiting for her, sipping from his mug of coffee.

"And how can I help you Miss Rose?" Ozpin asked. It was as though he had known exactly when she would appear and what she would ask.

"Its not me that needs help…" Ruby started suddenly nervous, what she wanted to say gone from her head. "Its…"

"Armis." Ozpin finished for her.

"Yes sir." Ruby looked down at her shoes. "He says that he trusts you because he knows you and that he doesn't trust anyone else. He seems so nice and I almost feel the need to comfort him, whenever I see him, but he is so wary of anyone else getting anywhere near him, even just seeing him!"

"I know, Miss Rose, I know." Ozpin put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It is just how he is. It isn't his fault, nor is it yours. Give him time to adjust. He has just been thrust into a social environment where he has no experience."

"OK sir." Ruby looked downtrodden, but slightly relieved to see that Ozpin agreed with her. "He just seems so lonely."

"Many willingly choose to remain alone. But no one can withstand loneliness forever, especially when the option of companionship is presented." Ozpin spoke. "Give him time."

"But why is he like that? You said he had escaped and came to Beacon, but he seems to be trained and has weapons that Atlas would never make."

"He will perhaps reveal it to you in due time Miss Rose." Ozpin turned to proceed down the stairs, but just as he reached half way down the first flight, Ruby decided to chance it.

"He also called you a liar."

Ozpin froze mid-step, and took a step back, turning to Ruby.

"And?"

"And why would you lie? What actually happened to Armis before he came to Beacon?"

"I cannot tell you that Miss Rose." Ozpin replied putting some force into his words, trying to end the conversation. But Ruby would not be dissuaded.

"Why not!" Ruby shouted. "What could be more horrifying that being captured and experimented on by Atlas extremists? How much worse can Armis' life be?"

Suddenly a huge pressure enveloped the room, any more words that Ruby would have wanted to say, caught in her throat. She felt like she was being crushed under an all encompassing weight and in her mind she saw flashes of combat, explosions and the sound of men screaming and dying, as well as a cruel laughter echoing though her thoughts. A very familiar laughter. Ozpin was the source of all this, invisible waves of power was pulsing out of him and Beacons Headmaster walked back up the stairs and stared down at her. Ruby's vision began to darken and her limbs felt stiff and lifeless. She could barely hear Ozpin as she fell onto her back and into unconsciousness.

"Worse that anything you could possibly imagine. So. So much worse."

* * *

 ** _Armis and Ruby have had a bit of a bonding session, but now Armis has to survive an entire night in the dorm room of three pissed off huntress' in training. How is he going to smooth this over?_**

 ** _I would like to ask any viewer for suggestions on additional weaponry that could appear in Armis' weapons cache. The weapons will be limited to weapons that are easily carried and used, so no assault cannons or other heavy weapons. This is not a vote so I will be picking a weapon on what I think will be best for Armis to use. If you give me a good explanation I may just change my mind._**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: After evading the clutches of three enraged Aura powered teenagers, Armis had sometime to reveal his hidden weapons cache and a few other of his more... unorthodox abilities to Ruby. Just what is Ozpin hiding from Ruby and what exactly did he do to knock her unconscious?**_

 _ **I was tempted to break this chapter into two but I** **decided that I would rather have one big chapter for you to enjoy, rather than two smaller ones.**_

 _ **Guest: What does the meal inbetween breakfast and lunch have to do with any of this? Joking aside, if you have watched RWBY then you know that they are most** **definitely not just a 'bunch of girls.' They scary when they want to be.**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

There was so much blood. Pain and suffering doled out in equal measure. She saw through the eyes of a panicking soldier, charging headlong towards the meat grinder of war. Packed close with his comrades, in there hundreds, they ran to war. And found only death. In front of the soldier, Ruby could barely see past the rows of green armoured shoulders of the men in front of her. But soon she could hear screams, and sprays of blood erupted from the mass of bodies in front of her. Severed arms and legs flew spinning into the air, spilling gore and red matter into the crowd below.

The man directly ahead of her exploded into bits, a limbless and headless hunk of torso slamming into her, sending her sprawled across the ground. Reaching around and rolling onto her back, she searched for a weapon or a handhold to pick herself up, but she only succeeded in covering herself, in more bloody viscera, slipping and sliding across the slick red paint of the battlefield. She looked at her reddened hands, not her own, clad in green turned red combat gauntlets. She couldn't say anything, nor move any more. Her body was forced to look up at the man, no the monster who had butchered those around her. It stood tall on top of a turretless metal hulk of a tank, only its silhouette visible, and its body was an ever-shifting mass of pitch-black nothingness. Men were just recklessly charging at it, red flashes of lasers and bayonets all aimed to kill this thing. But their weapons failed them, and then their own bodies failed them and were cut to fleshy ribbons. Blades, sheathed in lightning, sprouted out of the black mass and ended them, the monster laughing a hideous cackle at this futile attempt to destroy it.

Another leapt up to try and challenge this blackened beast. A woman, hair a burning gold and wearing an ornate suit of armour fought the monster. Using only her fists, that sent explosive force with each swing, the makeshift hill was contested for a time, and hope brimmed in Ruby's heart. The monster only laughed louder and fought back harder until this hope turned to dread. The woman was pushed back to the dripping red edge of the tank. And slipping on a patch of blood, in that moment of weakness, was slain. This shining crusader, like all the rest was picked apart, limb from limb, by slash after blade slash. The woman's head hit the ground before her body did, and bounced towards Ruby. As the head turned to face her, she saw lilac eyes staring back into her soul, Ruby almost recognised the fallen woman. And then the monster turned to her. The last one alive, for the screams of the dead had fallen silent. Only a hideous laughter remained as the reaper grew closer. Ruby was beyond terrified. Her blood had frozen and nothing could describe her fear. Everything told her to run, to move to flee and escape this nightmare. But she could not. She could only stare at her imminent doom approached her. A few details became visible, from this thing's supposed head. A white malicious grin and burning blood red eyes.

"RUUUUUUUUBBBBBBYYYYY!" It purred, stepping closer.

It knew her name. The monster covered in swirling blackness, leapt at her, laughing and laughing endlessly, echoing impossibly loud, even in the open air.

"RUBY!"

Death came for her as blade after blade, weapon after weapon sprouted from the darkness and descended upon her. And all she could do was…

* * *

"Ruby!"

Ruby's eyes snapped open and she jolted up, screaming in surprise. She had had such a strange terrible dream.

"You ok sis'?" She looked up to see Yang, with her hand against her back supporting Ruby.

Ruby was sitting on the floor next to the third floor dorm stairs, next to a concerned Yang. Blake and Weiss were standing behind her with equal looks of concern. She shook her head trying to remember what had happened. She had helped Armis… But they argued… And she left to find the rest of her team… And then…

"What happened?" Weiss asked, and then narrowed her eyes. "Did Armis ambush you?"

Yangs eyes flared red, but before she could get up and go looking for Armis again, Ruby calmed her.

"No! He didn't ambush me, and I'm fine." She quickly said raising her hands in front of Yang to dissuade her. " I think I just slipped before getting to the stairs."

There were a few looks of disbelief from her team.

Ruby continued. "And Armis hasn't ever seen us before today. Although I still don't get why that's a problem."

Yang looked furious again. "The problem is that-"

Blak put a hand on the fiery girl's shoulder and turned around. "Wait a sec, Yang, think about it. If Armis had seen us before, why did he act so surprised when we mentioned our room?"

"So?" Yang replied. "He could be faking it!"

"But why would he then tell us that he had been in our room? He could have just kept quiet about it and gotten off scot free." Blake reasoned.

There was a pause while Yang processed this. "Then how does he know what our room looks like?"

Ruby held her hand up and raised it as high as she could. "Oh I know. Pick me! Pick me!"

"Just tell us Ruby!" Weiss scolded.

"Before he came to Beacon, he hid a box of guns in the school in case he needed them. And he hid it in our room while we were away."

A long pause.

"You didn't do anything drastic while you were chasing him did you? He has no Aura remember." Ruby asked.

A longer, more guilty-looking pause.

"I shot at him."

"I threw the Gambol Shroud at him."

"I almost stabbed him with Myrtenaster"

Ruby just sighed. She shouldn't have been surprised. Ruby stood up and put her hands on her hips, doing her best impression of Weiss

"Well you best apologise." She said, holding her head held high.

"Hey, that's not funny!" Weiss complained indignantly.

"Oh and Armis is staying in our room tonight, while his room is sorted out.

"WHAT!" The three shouted in concert.

After calming her team down and giving a more detailed explanation, Team RWBY went back to their room, to find Armis gone. A note stuck to the weapons cache that was still lying in the room. Blake walked up to it and picked it up.

"Gone to discuss further matters with Ozpin. Will meet in next arena lesson." Blake read aloud.

A mischievous smile spread across Ruby's face. "And now I can get my hands on all of his weapons!" She said advancing on the crate.

"Ruby. _Honesty_ suits you well. Don't push your luck." Blake finished.

"Awwww." Ruby moaned.

A loud ping went off, outside their room and the schools intercom blared to life, Goodwitch's voice heard throughout the school. "Team RWBY and Team JNPR. Due to recent events regarding the morning combat class, your lessons have been rescheduled. There will be no more additional lessons for today."

A loud huzzah could be heard from through the door and across the hall, from Team JNPR's room.

"However, the same teams must convene in the arena classroom in precisely thirty minutes. You will remain there for the rest of the day."

"AWWWWWWWW!" came the following sound of sheer disappointment and crushed spirits.

"Well team, let's rest up, Glynda is certainly going to go easy on us, since she missed the last lesson." Ruby addressed her comrades, with a smile.

"Somehow I doubt that." Weiss replied, collapsing on her bed.

"Well I'm gonna go clean and restock Ember Celica." Yang spoke up, walking out the room. Well she was trying too at least. Before she stepped on the welcome mat and slipped into the floor, which now reached up to her waist.

"Errr guys… Why is there a hole under the welcome mat?" Yang asked indignantly.

The other girls looked to a severely shortened Yang, and at first no one was sure what to say. Weiss got back up off the bed and asked:

"Was that always there?"

* * *

After they had dragged Yang back out of the doormat pit, and then had a well-deserved rest, half an hour flew by. Ruby still had a hard time getting them back out of bed, but with some coercion and loud noises, she was able to get her team out of their dorm room and into the weapons locker room five minutes before the arena lesson started. Each member prepared for the marathon arena session in their own way. Ruby was cradling the Crescent Rose, a huge red scythe, with an integrated .50 calibre sniper rifle making up the main body of the weapon. She was cleaning the weapon and whispering sweet nothings to the gun. You know… The usual. Blake was wrapping and unwrapping the black rope that attached the Gambol Shroud to her arm until she was satisfied it was held properly. The large cleaver like blade could be split apart into a katana and another smaller blade that included a semi-automatic pistol. This pistol was what the black rope was attached too. Weiss was simply restocking on the different types of dust she would need. She kept each type of dust in a different section of her rapier Myrtenaster, and could select each by rotating the cylinder in the weapons hilt. Yang had only needed to reload her shotgun gauntlets with a rack of shotgun cartridges. Throwing a few non-explosive test punches, she began to get herself psyched up for the upcoming fights.

A bell rang signalling the change in lessons, and Team RWBY headed down to the arena classroom. Along the way they met up with Team JNPR and exchanged greetings.

"Who you hoping to fight today?" Yang asked Nora.

"Armis. Definitely Armis." Nora smiled and patted her hammer against the palm of her hand. "Its gonna be payback for being mean to Pyrrha. Oh and Jaune as well."

"Nora." Pyrrha sighed. "You don't have to do that for me."

"No." The ginger-haired, hammer girl's smile took on a more sinister appearance. "But I want to."

"I wouldn't mind having a crack at him as well." Yang added, bumping her fists together.

A few steps away Blake was talking to Ren, the dark haired boy, who had a pair of green SMG's hidden up the sleeves of his robe.

"Any advice on how to fight Beacon's new student?" She asked, nonchalantly.

"You assume he will be fighting?" Ren replied, just as calmly.

"He informed us that he would meet us in the next arena lesson. I assume this was his and Ozpin's idea."

Ren nodded, accepting Blake's explanation. "He is fast, and can strike at multiple targets at the same time. His cloak allows most of his strikes to go unseen, and will be hard to predict. If it were another hunter we were talking about I would try to stay out of his reach and shot him from afar. But without aura, if we hit something vital…" Ren left the consequences unspoken.

"I agree. It is still a debate whether he should fight at all, if any lucky strike could wound him." Blake replied just as they arrived at the arena doors.

Entering the Arena doors they saw Glynda Goodwitch next to the Aura level board, as usual. But no Armis.

'He must be late.' Ruby thought.

"Could all students please take a seat." Goodwitch called. "The random student selector will choose two combatants and the fight will take place in the arena as usual."

Soon, with everyone ready sitting at the sidelines, the lesson was about to start. Ruby was looking around the room, searching for any sign of Armis. Yang had noticed this and a knowing smirk came across her lips. Everyone else was both nervous and excited about the coming fights. The intercom suddenly started up and Ozpin's familiar voice reached the students ears.

"These lessons are part of a new school lesson structure geared towards the upcoming Vytal festival that will be held in Vale. There are similar classes being held for other teams but this one has been specifically chosen because of recent events. I'm sure you all know who I refer too."

There were a few nods around the class and more excited chatter rose up, before dying down at a glance form Glynda. Ozpin wasn't finished.

"Although I have no power, or right to forbid you, I would kindly ask that you keep both Armis' appearance and story, to yourselves. This is at his request and I hope you all respect his decision."

More nods. While most of them had not talked to Armis, they had absolute trust in the Headmaster. Ruby however gave a small frown. She had something at the back of her mind that she just couldn't quite remember, but for some reason she knew that something the Headmaster had said was false.

"Now these classes will be held at the second half of school after all other lessons are finished. New timetables will be distributed. So do try not to lose them." Ozpin paused. "Nora."

A whine, followed by several chuckles echoed around the arena. Everyone's attention was now solely devoted to the Aura board as the two slot machines started up, showing each of their faces.

"You are expected to learn not only from your teacher but from each other. Now the first sparing match will be between…"

The slot machines began to slow down and the two combatants were selected. Glynda glanced up at the board and addressed the class.

"Yang Xiao Long vs Armis Zwolf."

There were several confused looks between the students. Armis wasn't here. A hollow metal bang sounded out behind them and as a whole, each student turned towards the noise. There was no one there, so everyone turned back dismissing the sound. And then all their jaws dropped. Standing in the middle of the arena was Armis, hidden by his now signature cloak and hood, nothing about him revealed, his face shrouded, his arms hidden within the layers of dark fabric.

Yang was the first to shrug off this momentary surprise, a cocky smile plastered across her face. Looks like she got what she wanted, but how the hell had Armis gotten into the middle of the arena so fast? Even Goodwitch seemed confused. Yang walked down the steps and reached her position in the arena after a quick jog. She got into a fighting position and readied herself for what was to come. The fight with Pyrrha was impressive and all, but she knew about Armis now and could prepare for it.

'Even if Ruby and Armis are telling the truth, I can still get some payback by kicking his ass!' Yang thought to herself.

Glynda finally got over the confusion and spoke to Armis. "Armis, remove your cloak for this fight."

'Uh oh.' Ruby thought.

Armis' hood turned to Goodwitch.

"No." He did not shout, but his voice filled the arena. There was such hatred in his voice. Hatred and determination.

Glynda took a step closer to the arena railing; she wasn't going to back down to a student, whoever he was. "Oh? Care to explain why?"

The arena suddenly filled with such tension that many held their breaths in anticipation.

Armis himself seemed to lock eyes with Goodwitch, almost challenging her. But soon he relented.

"It is an integral part of my fighting style. To remove my cloak will put me at disadvantage. And I don't see any sort of standard combat uniform on any of those present." Armis pointed out, sweeping his hand to gesture at the crowd.

"Then just your hood will do." Glynda pushed.

There was another pause before Armis sighed and removed his hood to reveal his shaven head and rugged face. A wave of relief went around the room.

"Thank you." Glynda nodded, in perhaps a gesture of gratitude. She raised her whip.

"Ready…"

* * *

'This wasn't right.' Ozpin thought, sitting at his office in the clock tower, observing the arena class through several cameras.

No one seemed to notice that Armis was in the centre of the room from the moment they entered. None of the students even looked at him, and Glynda hadn't even noticed him either. Ruby has been glancing and looking around the room constantly, but she hadn't looked at Armis once.

"Armis what are you doing?" Ozpin muttered to himself.

It seemed that despite Armis' attitude, battle experience and outlook on life, he boy still had a mischievous streak. Even if it was understandably twisted. Quite sadistic even. After all, if Ozpin remembered from Armis' memories correctly, he could deduce that the many-armed man was still in his very late teens, although Armis himself seemed to have forgotten his age. His body, although irreversibly changed, was still that of a young adult. But behind all that youth, was the experience from countless battles. Too many wars in such a small space of time.

The final nail in the coffin was the fight line up. Glynda had shouted for Armis and Yang to enter the arena, even though Ozpin could see that the cloaked man was already in the arena. But that result was wrong. Armis's face hadn't even been inputted into the system yet; he refused to have his picture taken. What was on Ozpin's screen was something else entirely. The slot machines had landed on a girl with a scar across her eye and white hair in a ponytail. The other showed a smiling girl with freckles and short ginger hair.

Weiss Schnee vs Nora Valkyrie.

* * *

"BEGIN!" Glynda shouted.

Both Yang and Armis sprinted at each other, meeting at the centre of the arena. Hair and cloak flowing back respectively. Cheers and whoops supporting Yang echoed around the arena. Ruby however was being notably quiet and watching the fight intensely. Yang struck first and sent a right hook at Armis, without the explosive charge. But in an instant Armis dodged around it to his left and struck back. A sharp whipping sound caused all the audience to become silent, as the two combatants separated, Armis facing away from Yang, who had stumbled forwards. She straightened up and turned back around. There were a few gasps from the crowd. A red hand now blemished the side of Yang's face.

"Did you just…" Yang started, but was soon interrupted by Armis spinning around and charging at her again. She focused again and met his charge head on. Another swing with Ember Celica, aimed at the centre of his cloak. Armis seemed to just stop mid charge and dodge back, leading Yang to over swing. She was able to use her momentum to continue forwards after Armis, but the cloak just moved out of the way effortlessly evading Yang. Armis changed direction once again and came straight towards Yang. She sent another punch on a collision course with her opponent, but Armis somersaulting above her, dodged any form of attack. While mid air, upside down and directly above Yang, his two hands came smashing down into the side of her head, over her ears. Yang became disoriented, and tried to turn around, swinging wildly. She couldn't tell where Armis was until; she felt a breeze of wind pass under fist and slapped her across the face again, this time on the other side of her face. Yang went reeling backwards, her ears ringing almost as much as her face and pride were stinging. She shook her head from side to side, trying to regain balance. Her arms came up, into a traditional boxer's position, hands up and close to her face. But she needn't have worried as Armis was just standing there, but twenty paces away.

'Why was he just standing there?' Yang thought.

Armis smiled at Yang. "I do quite like yellow frilly underwear." He laughed, only Yang hearing his statement.

Yang just snapped. A wave of fire erupted from her body and embers and flames sprung up around her hair. Her Aura was causing Armis' cloak to flap and billow like it was in a strong wind. Yang's long flowing yellow locks began to glow a shining gold and her eyes became a smouldering red crimson. With a click of her thumb, she deactivated the safeties on Ember Celica and leapt at Armis, a trail of flames marking her passing and a roar of anger at her lips. She heard a shotgun shell load into place and readied to hit Armis with everything she had.

"You lying BASTARD!" She screamed, quickly closing the distance with Armis, who made no indication of dodging.

* * *

He hadn't really intended to lie, but it seemed Yang needed a push over the edge to get her really worked up. Armis didn't actually have a clue what Yang was wearing under her clothes, nor did he really care. It was an educated guess, looking at her outfit, and theme of yellow. Even if she wasn't wearing yellow underwear, she would likely come to the assumption that he was referring to one of her team members. Either way it resulted in the desired effect. Yang now had no self-control and wouldn't think about why he wasn't dodging. To any rationally thinking combatant they may have deduced that Armis wanted her to hit him. That was why he had made it his goal to anger Yang enough that it would cause her to activate her semblance. And that was exactly why he had made sure to research the strengths and weaknesses of any potential threats. Ozpin had been kind enough to provide him with that research. And that was precisely why he had made sure to grab a conversion field from his weapons cache.

'Thank you Magos.' Armis thought to himself as Yang got within striking distance.

A conversion field was a very valuable piece of tech. It formed a barrier around the wielder, and activated when an object hit a certain velocity, such as a bullet or more conveniently an Aura powered punch from an enraged blonde. Armis wasn't exactly sure how or why it worked, but he did know one of its more useful side effects. Armis closed his eyes, allowing Yang's fist to come within a few inches of Armis' unflinching face. Both Ember Celica's shotgun and the conversion field activated at the same time. As the conversion field, strained and buckled at such as display of force, a blinding flash of light erupted from Armis, as the once invisible field revealed its embracing shape. Everyone in the audience got a look at the barrier that now protected Armis before having to look away. Yang however, was instantly blinded, and her strike was deflected to the side now that it had nothing propelling it. This was when Armis' eyes snapped open and he moved. Like lightning, he struck out from his cloak, his two hands covering in black punching gauntlets, and propelled by the six arms behind them. With nothing to obstruct him, he landed a devastating punch into Yang's gut. The wind was forced out of her, but any gasp that would have escaped was cut off by another equally devastating strike right across her face. Yang tried to do something, anything. Disoriented, concussive, blind and out of breath, she tried to swing at the feeling of a cloak passing by her, but her fist hit nothing but a breeze of air, as Armis easily predicted such crazed return strikes.

Armis could see Yang try to open her eyes, but she wasn't looking at anything. However he noted that her eyes returned to their normal lilac.

'Perfect.' He thought, continuing his assault with another punch across the face.

Yang's semblance was a powerful thing. The more damage she took and the lower her Aura level was, the more damage she could deal when she became enraged. The side effect was that afterwards, this rage tired her out exponentially. Armis had made sure to deal as little damage to her Aura as possible. Slapping her and targeting other weak points was not the most chivalrous of actions, but they did the job. The strikes stung and frustrated her, and it had only taken an insulting suggestion to get her enraged. But now she had reverted to her normal self, vulnerable and weakened. His assault was fast, effective and brutal. Against human opponents he would have killed them twice over by now. But Yang still had Aura on her side, however fast that was depleting. A crushing impact against her side should have broken several ribs that would in turn puncture her lung. But it didn't. A fast striking palm against her left arm should have rendered it useless and shattered. But it didn't. An elbow to the bridge of Yang's nose should have broken not only her nose, but also anything behind it. But it didn't, and it was only the follow up spinning kick that connected against the side of her head that even rendered her unconscious.

All of this happened it mere moments. To the audience, they saw a barrier appear before Armis, and then they had turned away at the sudden outburst of light. When most had opened their eyes to look back, an entirely different sight from before greeted their eyes. They saw only an unconscious Yang with blood dripping down her nose land against the hard arena floor on her back, and a triumphant Armis standing a few paces away. Ruby, however had been fast enough to look away at the time of the flash. She had seen everything that had transpired in the arena, and was at the arena balcony, her knuckles turned white grabbing the railing. She looked up at the aura board. Yang's Aura was exactly zero. That last kick had broken it and caused her nose to bleed.

"The victor is Armis Zwolf." Glynda managed to say.

Ruby turned back to Armis, seeing a cocky smile across his face. She felt angry. Unbelievably so, for such an innocent little girl. Her hand had reached around and was beginning to grip the trigger to the Crescent Rose. While she contemplated jumping at Armis, the slot machines selecting the next fight started up again. It seems her decision was made for her.

"The next fight will be between…" Goodwitch looked up at the board. "Ruby Rose vs Armis Zwolf."

Ruby instantly jumped into the arena. The small length of chain and the silver cross at her belt clinking together as she landed. Ruby could forgive Armis' fight with Pyrrha. Or even his humiliation of Jaune. But this was purposeful brutality. Against her sister. As Ruby reached the centre of the arena, she pulled the Crescent Rose from her back and as it extended into a gigantic scythe. Ruby cut the air around her as she whirled the blade around her body. The wind swirling around her, any dust at the centre of the arena blowing away. Across the arena, there was a quick frown and a dip in the smile on Armis' face, as he saw the red caped girl. Ruby readied herself. Any doubt gone from her mind and her face became an emotionless mask. Armis thought he could hurt the students who had promised to keep his secret, without consequences.

'Nobody hurts my sister.' Ruby thought, Crescent Rose biting into the floor as she waited for Glynda Goodwitch to start the fight. She would prove him wrong.

* * *

The thrill of a victory was always hollow for Armis. It only meant that the next battle was just around the corner. After a brief respite, it was back into the next engagement, onto the next war. Orders, suicidal charges, artillery strikes, infiltrations, assassinations, politics. That was his life. That _was_ his life. Armis smiled as he defeated Yang, the girl spinning through the air, and landing on her back, bloody, beaten, but alive. But now he was here, he had no restrains anymore. No more orders, no more slaughters, no more mutant infested hellholes. Here he could do whatever he wanted. Even Ozpin only asked him to stay at Beacon. Armis could leave any time he wanted and Ozpin wouldn't stop him. That Armis knew he was telling the truth was what truly secured his loyalty. Armis had decided to stay because he wanted to. Not because he had been told to.

Armis had never met a man so kind, so trusting and yet have the ruthlessness, intelligence and willpower to back it up. Ozpin held such power at his fingertips. His Aura and semblance made him a match for any hunter on this world, and his psychic potential would make him a god amongst men if unleashed. Ozpin was walking the tightrope of power, the struggle to stay true to your ideals and never let power get to your head. And he was winning. He had not once unleashed the full power of his psychic ability. He had the forethought to see that this unknowable power was dangerous. And once again he was right. Armis himself distrusted his own gift and only made use of it in bursts, so not to attract unwanted attention.

"Ruby Rose vs Armis Zwolf."

Armis snapped back to reality, and frowned. The little girl in red had jumped into the arena. This was not a fight he wanted. There was no fun in beating a weaker opponent. Yang had been stronger than him in many ways and the fun had been in the planning and execution, playing that strength against her. Armis cursed himself. He should have paid attention and altered the way everyone saw the leader board again, but he had assumed it would pick anyone other than him. He had made sure to enter each persons mind subtly and make them assume the board had shown himself and Yang. No one actually properly looked at the board.

'Ah well.' Armis thought. 'Lets get this over with as soon as possible.'

He picked up Yang and handed her to the students in the arena stands. "Do not worry. Her wounds are only superficial. She will wake soon." Armis told them.

He stepped back into the arena, surprised to see Ruby take out such a huge encumbering weapon. Was she really such a child as not to realise how much of a burden that will be on her? Scythe wielders were few and far between and needed specialised training to master. Years and years of practice to simply get used to the things unorthodox weight and balance. And a competent opponent can counter all that training with simpler tactics.

Armis faced Ruby in the arena and noticed that she had unconsciously put up her hood. He could no longer see her eyes. But he could see her lips, a thin line across her face giving nothing away. Clever, and interesting. He looked up at Goodwitch. She only shook her head, still not letting him put up his own hood. He let out a small mutter of complaint, but readied himself none the less, his arms covered in his cloak. Armis deactivated the conversion field. No need to overtax it. Ruby had stabbed her scythe into the ground and was waiting.

"Ready?" Glynda announced.

Neither opponent moved, each focused on the other.

"BEGIN!"

* * *

Nothing. No movement from either Ruby or Armis. Armis was waiting for Ruby to just rush at him, which he could easily counter. But she just stood there as well. It was a waiting game, to see who would flinch first. And Armis wasn't interested in dragging this out. He thought out strategies to counter Ruby's in his head and on deciding to strike, Armis ran forwards. This was odd. She still hadn't moved, it was as though she wanted him to hit… Realisation dawned just in time for Armis to dart to the side. A scythe blade cut apart the air behind him and he turned to see Ruby in the same stance, a few metres behind him. The irony of such a tactic was not lost to Armis.

'Damn she's fast.' Armis thought bewildered. 'That would have cut me in half.'

He changed direction again and attacked Ruby again, from the left. Again she didn't react, but a second before Armis got into striking distance, she disappeared in a cloud of red roses.

'What?!' Armis shouted inside his head.

He felt a fiendish presence behind him, and a descending object approaching rapidly. He barely had time to raise his two arms above his head to block the incoming scythe as its blade stopped a few centimetres from his head. He strained against the force bearing down upon him, but he caught a quick look at Ruby above him. Her hood had moved upwards for a moment revealing her face. There was no emotion shown in those silver eyes and unmoving features. But Armis could feel her emotions just oozing from her. And more importantly he could feel her intentions. She had worked herself up into such a fury that she had come full circle. He had seen it before, felt it before. The killing calm.

Armis pushed the blade to the side and dodged in the opposite direction, narrowly avoiding another strike from Ruby. Her teammates saw Armis giving ground and begun to cheer and call for Ruby. But the girl in the arena didn't acknowledge any of it. Armis frowned. This wasn't innocent cheerful Ruby anymore. This Red Reaper fully intended to kill him and whatever had come over Ruby made her a very dangerous opponent. Her semblance gave her incredible speed, and now she was no longer impulsive and rash. He could feel her analysing and predicting his moves and actions. This was no longer a sparing match. Armis suddenly smiled, his teeth displayed in an insane grin. This was a duel to the death. Just what he wanted! The thrill of victory after countless deaths may feel hollow to him, but the thrill of a fight with an equal opponent was what Armis lived for! He could feel his heart pump faster, his bones shivering at the prospect. He could feel his arms begin to split apart and untangle, his bones snap back into position.

Armis charged at Ruby again, a laugh of pain at his lips, as each arm separated and the corresponding bones clicked back into place. Ruby also ran to meet him, scythe spinning. His cloak parted to make way for each on his twelve different arms, each clutching a blade of varying size. Knives, short swords, machetes and everything in between. The two opponents clashed at the centre and held their ground. While the many armed man could strike from multiple directs and angles at once, the little Red Reaper was impossibly fast, and deflected each in turn, sometimes at the same time, using both the haft, pommel and blade, to turn Armis' weapons aside. To the audience, they could only catch only glimpses of the conflict. They could see Armis and Ruby, but their weapons and arms were blurs of motion and the weapons could only be seen in the small moments that they clashed with each other, sparks erupting in the air seemingly at random.

Armis and Ruby continued to exchange blows. Armis was impressed immensely by the little girls combat ability. He took back all he had said about her; this girl truly was his match. He began laughing in enjoyment. His voice drowned out the audiences cheers. This was amazing! Her scythe spun all around her, seemingly without effort, expertly intercepting everything he threw at her. Attempts to lock her scythe down were evaded, the blade always spinning, always meeting any of his attacks. They were at a complete stalemate, neither gaining the other hand, neither landing a single attack. Who would break first? Armis steeled himself and struck with renewed vigour. He would not break. He would never break, never again. Armis formulated a plan. Stop the scythe. He began leaving openings in his guard. He would get her to strike closer to him and then immobilise the scythe. Armis waited for the telltale signs of an incoming attack. But none came. Armis struck with each of his left arms at the same time, leaving it blindingly obvious, to Ruby and Armis at least, that his left side was open. But Ruby just deflected his attacks and didn't take the bait. Then it struck him and his laughter was cut short. She hadn't swung her scythe at him once, during this entire blinding exchange of metal. Was she too busy defending from his attacks?

Ruby's eyes were locked against Armis'. She wasn't looking at his arms, his weapons or even the trajectory of his attacks. Ruby was looking at him. And then he understood. She was toying with him. The scythe got a little closer to Armis, as the little girl took a step forward. And then again as she took another. Armis was bewildered as he was forced to step back, to avoid the whirlwind, as the scythe glided round Ruby's body, still nullifying any attempt to strike at her. He was being forced back, and those in the audience cheered louder for Ruby.

"Kick his ass Ruby!" Called Weiss.

"Keep it up!" Blake shouted.

"BREAK. HIS. LEGS!" Roared a terrifying Nora.

There was a small pause in the cheering as everyone stared at Nora, but it was soon resumed. Each reasoning it would be best to leave her be.

Armis was losing ground fast as Ruby advanced. He smiled wider. Armis had resolved to test what this Red Reaper could do. He planted his feet firmly and stood his ground. Still sending more of strikes against Ruby, he refused to budge. He accelerated to maximum, arms becoming almost invisible to the naked eye. Ruby also stopped and her own movements sped up as well to cope with this new assault. Wind and dust was struck up around them, black cloak and red cape shifting and flapping against this new force generated from the two's struggles.

And only then did Ruby began to strike back. The first overhead swing surprised Armis, and nearly took his head. The haft of the scythe was perfectly positioned to deflect three of his attacks, while the other two struck true. A knife cut across her shoulder, while a machete slashed against her waist. But any success Armis felt was soon wiped away as he realised he had gotten nowhere. His attacks were simply absorbed by her Aura, and now she was attacking back. It started off slow, every so often Ruby sent an attack Armis' way, while still defending herself. But soon, he was devoting more and more of his arms to defending himself. If a single scythe blade struck him, he would have been at best incapacitated. Decapitated at worst, and Ruby wasn't holding back any more. A few strikes more and Armis was completely on the defensive. The pace of attacks hadn't slowed down; if anything it had only increased. But now it was Ruby's scythe that was being defected by Armis. He was beginning to slow down. His breath became ragged, and his arms all ached. Finally, as he avoided a swing that almost cut him in half, Armis leapt backwards. He now had his back to the wall. Cuts uncountable opening up across his arms, proving that all those close calls were a little closer than that. He still wore a weary smile as blood began to drip down his arms and onto the floor. He looked up to see Ruby, still whirling her scythe, advancing, the same emotionless expression she had before on her face.

* * *

"HOLD!"

Suddenly Ruby blinked and stopped her scythe, holding it along her back, over her shoulder. The emotion of surprise returned to her face and she seemed to have woken from a trance.

"Armis?" Glynda asked. "Can you still fight? I have express orders from Ozpin that the moment you surrender the fight is over."

Armis chuckled. "I can still fight." He replied getting to his feet. He sheathed all of his blades back under his cloak. And then pulled out something from a pouch in his belt. Armis looked over to Ruby, who seemed so unsure of everything now.

"You ready?" He asked her

"Errrm what?" Ruby looked at him. "Y- Yes but aren't you..?"

"I said; I can still fight." Armis said, repeating himself.

In a surprising turn of events, Armis rolled his shoulders and allowed his cloak to fall from his back. A few of his arms grabbed it and set it down lightly against the ground. Everyone now could see the black suit that he wore and all of the bleeding cuts and slashes across his arms. Ruby looked like she would complain, but something else caught her attention. Clasped in a number of Armis' hands was a large quantity of thin wire, all weaved in and between his hands and fingers. Each was of a similar length to a strand of hair, and could only be properly seen when the light reflected off them. Ruby had no idea what Armis intended to do, but looking over his body, she was worried about all the cuts that covered his arms. Her eyes lingered a bit too long on his six-pack, which was only emphasised by the black skin-tight suit covering Armis' body. A catcall whistle from the audience caused Ruby to blush as red as her cape, and signalled that Yang had woken up and was watching the fight.

Again the two readied themselves, although Armis noticed that Ruby was looking about nervously and hooping from foot to foot.

"Your a lot stronger than you look Ruby. In body and of will." Armis told her.

"Errm, thanks?" Ruby replied uncertainly. "Look I'm sorry about just now, I just get like that some-"

But Ruby was interrupted as Armis dashed forwards, using the wall behind him to push himself forwards. The thin wire was splayed out in front of him in a mesh, linked between pairs of his hands. Ruby let out a high pitched '"Eeep!" And jumped back, but Armis only followed her. Armis could tell that whatever had come over Ruby, was gone now. Shame. He had kind of wanted to lose against her. A fitting victory, the Red Reaper avenging her sister, the Yellow Dragon.

Armis chuckled. 'And now I'm giving them nicknames.'

Ruby stood her ground and became defensive, swinging her scythe forwards, without the killing intent behind it, just enough force to keep Armis at bay. Instead of staying back, Armis ducked under the blade and quickly flicked his wrist upwards, a thin wire attaching to the crimson scythe. Ruby pulled the trigger on Crescent Rose and used the blasts momentum to spin the blade around her body, the pommel aiming to knock Armis back. He dodged once again, to her right, and punched her in the side. Her aura absorbed most of it, but the impact knocked her off balance. Armis snapped one of his wrists forwards again and another wire wrapped around the Crescent Rose's pommel, while a third hooked around the silver cross at Ruby's belt. Ruby backed away slightly from Armis' punch, but continued to twirl her scythe. There was none of the speed behind it, like previously, and Armis' noticed that she purposefully slowed her attacks down the moment he grew close to the scythe's razor edge. He was able to get in close, where it was harder for Ruby to manoeuvre her weapon. A pair of his arms quickly wrapped around Ruby and linked behind her, exchanging lengths of wire in mere moments, with deft finger movements. Another hand flicked a strand above her head and, with a small amount of psychic manipulation; it fell around the back of her neck. His other hands all manipulated several other strands, each wrapping round some object on Ruby's clothing or some notch in her weapon. He was easily able to jump over another swing that tried to push him back. But the moment he saw it slow underneath him, obviously some misguided notion about Ruby hurting him, he slammed his feet down and imposed his considerable weight down upon it. The flat of the scythe hit the ground and almost dragged Ruby with it.

But before she could recover and dislodge the weapon, Armis clenched all of his hands into fists and pulled outwards from his body, like he was tightening a knot. Both figuratively and very literally. The multitude of invisible metal wires, wrapped around and catching against anything on Ruby, her weapon, her clothes, her arms and legs, all became taut and tightened around Ruby. With a gasp of surprise, the wires pulled her arms and legs shut against her body, and completely immobilised her. Even though she clutched the pommel of Crescent Rose, it wasn't by choice. The same wire that bound her, linked her body and her weapon together. She could even feel a wire pushing at her face, causing her head to turn, locked against her left shoulder. Ruby could see the reflection of sunlight along each of the wires that were attached to her, leading all the way back to where they were linked. Back to Armis. He held all of the wire in each of his hands. He was using six of his hands to grip the wire and direct where it went, what it wrapped around and from what direction it was pulled. While the other six, fed these hands wire, allowing the strands to reach their destination, entangle the foe and when the time came, pull the wire tight and complete the trap. Ruby struggled and tried to free herself, but it only served to tighten her restrains.

"Don't struggle, it will only make this harder for yourself." Armis said, still pinning the Crescent Rose to the floor. "Surrender."

Ruby paused for a moment, and turned to the Aura board. She was still well in the green. She tried letting go of her scythe and pulling back on the wires, but they wouldn't budge. Armis gave the line a tug and Ruby felt her Aura buckle under the pressure. Her arm was beginning to turn in the wrong direction and she could see her Aura drop rapidly towards the red.

"Surrender!" Armis shouted down at her.

"Ok ok! I surrender! You win." Ruby finally admitted.

The moment those words past through her lips, her bonds became slack and Armis released his grip on the wires. He let go of a sigh in relief.

'That was tiring.' Armis thought, before speaking to Ruby once again. "Apologies, but those wires are still pretty tangled up with you. This could take a while."

After a few minutes of faffing around with Ruby's entrapment, (It took the entirety of the two teams, and a little help from Goodwitch to break her free.) Ruby was back on her feet again. The first thing she did was ask if Armis was ok.

To that Armis only laughed and said; "You are a worthy opponent to face. I'm glad that we were able to fight."

Armis picked up his cloak and was about to walk back up to the arena stands, before Goodwitch called to them.

"Due to having such a late lesson and the extended length of these fights, this class had been dismissed. Please could Team RWBY and Armis retire to their dorm." After a brief pause and the puppy dog eyes from Nora and strangely Jaune, she continued. "And yes Team JNPR, you can do so as well. Although I do recommend getting some revision in before the day is through."

Armis nodded and turned back to Ruby. "I hope we can spar again."

Ruby was slightly taken aback, but smiled non-the less. "I hope so too."

Armis threw his cloak over himself again and prepared to walk back to his temporary accommodation.

"Armis, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Wha- oh." Armis turned around to see both Yang and Ruby facing him with their arms crossed. "Ah. Apologies Yang for my behaviour."

Armis paused. Ruby stared.

"It will never happen again."

Ruby stared harder.

"And I'm sorry for my mean comment. I don't actually know what underwear you… wear. I just guessed."

Ruby nodded, satisfied. Yang grunted acceptance reluctantly.

"Your still a perv by the way." Yang told him.

Armis simply shrugged his shoulder and walked out of the room. No way to argue with that.

* * *

A blur of roses shot past him and met him outside. Armis was only slightly surprised this time.

"Could you stop doing that?"

"No, and why do you use those wire things, if they are such a pain to untangle after you have used them."

Armis remained silent, reluctant to say anything.

"Ahhhhh please tell me." Ruby begged, showing him puppy dog eyes.

Armis only raised an eyebrow at Ruby's display of cuteness. She dropped the act quickly.

"I will stare at you until you tell me!" She pouted.

"Fine fine. Emperor, your like a damn Arbites interrogator!" Armis reluctantly answered.

Two of his hands, covered in their corresponding black punching gauntlets revealed themselves from under his cloak. The leather had been cut diagonally across the palm of his hand, and that went on to reveal several fine cuts through his skin, bleeding slightly. Armis' hands were stained red, the blood getting into the wrinkles of his skin. He looked like he had cut his hands on razors or glass.

"Lets just say that you're lucky you have Aura to protect you." He said. "Because there is rarely anything left for me to untangle this wire from."

Armis let his words sink in before stalking off towards the dorms. He needed to rest.

* * *

 ** _Ruby and Armis have had another bonding session, if a little bloodier than the first one. What exactly came over Ruby? And what did she see in her nightmare?_**

 ** _Seriously? No one wants to put forward their idea for one of Armis' new weapons? Leaving it all up to me? Fair enough, Im glad at least one of us had faith in my weapon creating skills..._**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: After the first day of training with teams RWBY, Armis was caught off guard by Ruby's speed and sudden personality change. Now begins Armis' first night in Beacon.**_

 _ **HK Target Shooter: Thanks for the ideas. I will say I am likely to use one of your suggestions.**_

 _ **Guest: Thanks for the support!**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

The sun had soon set over the horizon and a shattered pale moon took its place. The dark of night had begun to spread across Beacon's grounds; only the academies clock tower shone a dull green light across the courtyard. All other rooms had gone dark one by one, its residences falling asleep in preparation of the next day. All, that is, except for one.

"I can't believe I was unconscious for that!" A blonde haired girl raged to her teammates, as they got her up-to-date on what had transpired while she was unconscious.

"It _was_ very impressive." Blake replied.

"Impressive?!" Weiss exclaimed, shaking her head in disagreement and disbelief. "It was amazing! A feat of boundless skill and all you can say is 'very impressive?'

Ruby was standing just inside the doorway, twiddling her index fingers around one another and clutching her legs together in embarrassment, while her teammates were separated around the room.

Unlike most of Beacons dorm rooms, team RWBY's had undertaken somewhat of a transformation. Originally there had been four single beds lining the back wall taking up most of the room. To make room for four teenage girls worth of luggage, they had democratically voted, (three votes in favour, one Weiss against…) to make them into bunk beds. To the right of the room, one of the single beds was suspended from the ceiling by a multitude of ropes and pulleys. This was Ruby's attempt at a bunk bed, and surprisingly it hadn't collapsed down onto Weiss' bed yet. On the other side of the room, Blake had taken a simpler approach. Grabbing several old hardback copies of books she had read and no longer needed, but non the less wanted to keep, Blake had placed them on the four corner posts of the bed and then stuck the second bed on top of it. Once again the bed hadn't collapsed. Yet. Blake at this moment was sitting on the rightmost bed. Yang was busy pacing round the room, while Weiss was standing in front of Ruby, her arms crossed.

"It wasn't _that_ skilful." Ruby murmured, taking an interest in her boots.

Weiss turned to her and raised her finger, holding it close to Ruby's face. "What do you call duelling Armis, a man with twelve arms, and not only being able to match him, but push him back!"

Ruby's eyes went cross-eyed, staring at the other girls finger. "Errrm, moving really really fast?" Ruby tried.

Weiss paused for a moment and then let out a groan of sheer frustration, holding her once outstretched hand against her head.

"You could have killed him you know."

"What?" Ruby stammered, jumping slightly, shocked out of her embarrassment.

Blake nodded. "You could have killed him. You saw those cuts on his arms after the fight. If he had made a single mistake, you could have seriously maimed him. Or worse."

"Yeah!" Weiss seconded, hands to her hips. "You were so adamant about us not hurting him and look what you did!"

There was awkward silence. Weiss immediately regretted what she had said. As a result of trying to absolve herself of the blame of almost hurting Armis, she had burdened Ruby with the lion's share of the blame. Ruby seemed to be on the verge of crying from the guilt, her eyes glazing over and tears building in the corner of her eyes. Yang looked up from her pacing session and after shooting Weiss a disapproving look, tried to comfort her sister.

"Don't be like that Ruby. Armis may not have aura, but he seems tough enough and skilled enough that he doesn't need it." Yang reassured the saddened girl. She punched her softly in the arm and smiled as wide as she could. "Hey, he got his arm chopped off by Pyrrha for Oum's sake and he just stuck it back on and walked it off!"

Ruby wiped the build up of tears in her eye and started to look a bit happier.

"Lets not forget that he beat Pyrrha at the same time." Blake added.

Ruby looked relieved and reassured at her teammates comments and nodded, hugging her sister.

"Thanks guys." Ruby mumbled into Yang's hair. The quiet moment of contentment lasted a few seconds, before it was quickly shattered.

"But Armis' six pack though." Yang piped up, a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Oh come on Yang! That's despicable!" Weiss cried in outrage. "You would even consider something so dirty with… with the Atlas experiment!"

"What's your problem?" Blake questioned, crossing her arms.

"Look, Faunus are one thing I've had to get used to, and I will admit that I was wrong about. But this is different. He is barely humanoid, let alone human!" Weiss reasoned.

"What's wrong with that." Yang asked, brushing her comment aside, and another smirk, she turned to Ruby. "I saw someone else checking him out."

Yang grabbed Ruby in a playful headlock and began ruffling her hair.

"W-what! No! That's not true!" Ruby denied, her face flushing red. "Hey stop that!"

As the two sisters were messing around, Blake took out a book from a shelf next to her bed, and begun to read, lying down on the bed.

"Where is Armis by the way?"

Both sisters paused in their play fight and detangled themselves, Ruby straightening her hair.

"He set off first didn't he? And he was heading here, to our room." Yang questioned.

"I still can't believe you let that-" Weiss started, but paused trying to think of a word.

"Thing." The voice of Armis filled the room. He did not sound happy.

Everyone looked around the room, not able to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. Blake looked up from her book confused.

"He's not in the shower is he?"

Ruby looked right, towards the shower room. 'No, he wouldn't have gone in there.' Ruby looked to the left and towards the window. 'He could be hanging on the window, but the voice sounded like it was from inside our room.' She thought to herself. 'It was like it came from…' Ruby looked above her, to the ceiling and the gap above the door and the doorway.

"Could you girls please shut up? I'm trying to sleep."

'There's Armis.' Ruby thought, a smile coming back to her face.

She could barely see him, in the shadows above her, but she could see Armis' face, he had at least not covered that with his hood. He had somehow managed to cover the rest of his body with the black cloak he always wore, by holding it in place without it falling. The fabric seeming to shift and blend in with the shadows. Everywhere above Ruby, except Armis' revealed face was a bottomless black.

Yang was the next to notice him, followed soon by Blake who peeked out from the bottom bunk, and Weiss.

"How the hell did you get up there?" Yang spluttered.

"How are you even staying up there?" Blake wondered, a little more controlled than her teammates.

"How long have you been up there and why are you up there?!" Weiss shouted up at Armis, arms up in the air, trying to fully portray her confusion and frustration.

Armis sighed. His head begun to move and it lowered down slightly. He was now facing the three of them, except upside down. He raised his head looking directly down at Ruby.

"Do I have to answer all these questions?" Armis asked Ruby.

"Yes please." Ruby kindly smiled up at him. It only served to hide her amusement.

"Since when did you need Ruby's permission to answer any of our questions?" Weiss pouted.

"Since she offered me shelter for the night, when I had none, and since she is the leader of team RWBY and this is team RWBY's room. She has also won my respect. Therefore she had been given honorary but very temporary command while I remain here."

Ruby only nodded and looked back at her teammates. "I am in command!" She giggled. "Yay!"

Yang was about to complain, but Armis beat her too it. "This is to alleviate your concerns, and Goodwitch's concerns," Armis gritted his team at the female teacher's name, "about mixed-sex interaction, as she put it. You have my word and Ruby's that I will not move from this spot until dawn."

Yang begrudgingly held her tongue and leaned back against the bedpost of the right-side bunk bed.

"How are you staying up there?" Blake repeated, seemingly fascinated at Armis' upside down appearance.

"There are sufficient handholds here for me to hold myself in place. I have locked a number of my arms in place, in order to keep me in place." Armis answered. He turned to Weiss and his glaze became hard and unforgiving. "And I have been here since before you all arrived."

Weiss took an unconscious step back and broke eye contact looking down at the floor. Ruby was still looking up at Armis' and noticed a darker area of skin underneath the thin layer of shaven hair on his head. She went on her tiptoes to get a better look. It looked like a simplistic drawing of a Nevermore, or even an old bird of prey, an eagle. Only this version had two heads. One of them had an eye looking forward. The other didn't.

"Armis? What's that on your head?" Ruby asked, innocently.

Armis immediately flipped up his hood and begun to raise himself back into his hiding spot above the doorway, and into the shadows.

"A tattoo." Came the swift reply, his voice signifying he wanted no further comment.

'That's fine. Like Ozpin said; he'll tell me when he wants too. Give him time.' Ruby thought. 'Wait, what else did Ozpin say? When did I speak with Ozpin?' She suddenly felt a pounding in her head.

Ruby shook her thoughts clear. The leader of team RWBY gave the order for the group to get to sleep. As each member dressed in their pyjamas, Yang snuck Ember Celica onto her wrists and switched the pillow to face the doorway and Armis. She would guard against any moves he made on her comrades. Yang waited a moment, for Armis to move down to the ground. But nothing came.

"Is he going to sleep up there?" She wondered aloud, absentmindedly posing the question to her teammates.

"Yes." Came Armis' quick reply.

* * *

Over in the docks of Vale, official business had slowed to a grinding halt. Dock workers had left and security had locked up the warehouses of big companies such as the Schnee Dust company. After the attempted theft of several containers of Dust from the very same company, AI guardians had been placed on sentry duty as a counter measure. The perfect sentries, AI had no need for sleep and had no concept of boredom. However one warehouse on the edge of the docks was strangely devoid of the steady clang of metal boots on the concrete. Each protector slumbered, arms too their side, heads bent forwards, immobile.

Inside the warehouse however, wasn't the crates of a storeroom. But the weapons, the maps, and the generals of a war room. Annotated maps of Vale, were nailed to the wall, men and women in Grimm masks moved from place to place, ferrying dust, guns, and anything their superiors ordered to be moved. And the generals themselves gathered around the map.

"Its not gonna work."

"It will work."

"Im telling you Cindy, it ain't gonna work. We need more muscle than these animals over hear."

"Then we will get 'more muscle'." The fiery woman replied. "Need I remind you Roman, what is at stake."

"Yes I do remember whats at stake. But I don't have the zealous loyalty of Emerald and Mercury over there." Roman gestured to the pair of rogues leaning against the wall of the warehouse. "Let me hire some real tough customers, and we can mop this problem up ready for the finale."

"You mean merc's." Came the voice of Emerald.

Roman didn't grace her with a response and only continued to look at the leader of this little operation. A woman on boundless cunning and ruthlessness, she was not to be trifled with. And as usual she had decided to stick to the shadows, hiding her face. Her lackeys however.

"Yeah, why not buy traitorous madmen with no moral code other than money." Mercury asked sarcastically, the superior smirk he constantly wore showing itself.

"Come on you can't really be considering this?" Emerald asked to the womanly shadow.

There was silence for a moment as the shadow pondered. Weighed the risk, the reward and the consequences. But just as a conclusion was realised, the sound of metal tearing outside got everyones attention. The assembled group all drew weapons and the masked soldiers all aimed guns at the front bay doors. The woman only retreated further into the shadows. All were shocked to see a golden hand pierce through the lock, and crunch down on the apparently fragile metal. The bay door crumpled under its grip and was soon lifted away. A tall woman strode into the warehouse, a AI sentry with a broken neck in her grip, dragging behind her. The soldiers instantly opened fire on the intruder, but each shot only seemed to bounce off whatever armour she wore.

And she wore a lot of it. A full golden suit of thick plate mail, the thick, curved gold offering maximum protection of her body, while a undersuit of scale overlapping one another, at the joints provided just as much protection without limiting her movement. She wore no helmet and long locks of light blonde hair fell back over her suit. Pale skin and perfect features gave her a almost elfin appearance, combined with a stern visage, eyes telling of both experience and unyielding will. No bullet even seemed to dent the metal and not one shot blemished her face. Emerald and Mercury had the eyes and reactions to tell that the bullets were deflecting a centimetre before they struck anything. Aura. And a lot of it. As the volley of metal stopped and the soldiers reloaded, the woman took a step forward.

"I have come to offer my services." She raised a gauntleted hand towards the shadows at the back of the room, it clutched a disabled AI sentry's head. "To you, Cinder Fall." She stated, while crushing the AI's head into pieces, the body crashing to the floor discarded.

Looks of disbelief became commonplace. But Mercury took this as a challenge.

"And what makes you think we need your services!" He shouted as he leapt forwards, and aimed a Aura powered flying kick at this mysterious woman.

He felt the impact against the woman's chest plate and his leg buckled and jarred at the resistance. He saw his shoe tear and warp where his foot met his opponents aura. But nothing else happened. The woman simply stood there and took it. Not one reaction, not one step back.

"Because..." She started, raising her left arm across her body.

A titanic tower shield materialised onto her arm, almost as tall and wide as its wielder. She swept it back and it crashed into Mercury, sending him crashing onto several crates. She slammed her shield into the ground at her feet and pulled a equally large great sword from behind the shield.

"You need 'more muscle,' isn't that right Roman?" The woman turned to address the bowler-hatted criminal.

The man laughed. "Oh that was just priceless! Anyone who can wipe that smirk off Mercury's face is good in my books. I'm willing to hire you, but..." Roman turned to the shadow.

A fireball in the shadows lit upon a slender hand in the dark, revealing half of Cinders face.

"What is your name?"

The woman nodded her head. If Cinder was even holding this conversation, then she had already accepted her services.

"Seraphim. At your service."

* * *

Several stories higher than the rest of the school stood the Beacon Academy clock tower. A marvel of old-world engineering, it had stood for centuries, if the rumours were to be believed. And now it was the personal office of Beacon's headmaster. Ozpin was a patient man. He practically lived in a clock tower and had to maintain a school full of hormone-induced, aura-enhanced teenagers. He had been a world-class huntsman with an almost flawless record. He dealt with both of these things; raging kids and bellowing Grimm with nothing more than a sip of coffee and a kind smile. But right now, with one Glynda Goodwitch pacing around his room, he had lost his patience.

"What were you thinking, allowing that barbarian into our school!" Glynda shouted, waving her riding crop towards him. "He has so far showed no sign of co-operating with us, had brutalised three of the hunters in training and may have even been spying on some of the female students!"

Glynda continued to pace around the room while Ozpin rested his arms on his desk, fingers interlocked, his eyes following the teacher. She came to a stop at his desk and slammed her hands down onto the desk, threatening to overturn Ozpin's mug of coffee. Ozpin's eyes didn't stray from Glynda's, completely ignoring his precious mug's peril. That should have been the point Glynda noticed how silent Ozpin had been during their meeting. And how still he had become, only his eyes showing any sign of moving.

"He broke into my apartment and stole my emerald key into the Vault, and all you did was give him a place at Beacon. Without any prior knowledge of where he was from, what he was doing and why he was doing it. This is unacceptable!" Glynda raged. "You will expel him from our school immediately!"

"Glynda." Ozpin finally answered, gesturing with one hand to the chair in front of his desk. His voice was low, but carried with it a stern commandment that would not be denied. "Take a seat."

Glynda suddenly felt the atmosphere in the room plummet. She felt cold and suddenly her mind became blank, she couldn't retort in surprise at Ozpin's sudden request, Ozpin's order. She could only slowly pull out the chair from the desk and sit quietly. There was almost a full minute of silent as Ozpin simply stared at her, seemingly examining her features, her eyes and her movements. She tried to speak, to question, to argue, but each time she tried, Ozpin's eyes snapped back to glare into Glynda's eyes. If felt like she had been frozen by his gaze, like Ozpin was seeing into her soul. And so, other than the steady whirs and clicks of the ancient mechanisms within the clock tower, there was silence. Until Ozpin finally broke eye contact and slowly, purposefully reached into a open drawer and pulled out a single slip of paper. Glynda followed the document, as it was lain out onto the flat wooden surface and span round, to allow her to read.

As Ozpin slid the piece of paper across the desk, Glynda picked it up and began to read. Her expression changed rapidly, to confusion, to realisation, to disbelief. And after glancing once again at Ozpin, to see only his emotionless and uncaring face, to horror.

"This… this can't be right!" Glynda cried in anguish. "This must be a joke, Oz please say this is a joke."

"Do I look like I'm in a humorous mood?" Ozpin replied, nothing betraying his stoic and blank face. "I'm disappointed in you."

"I'm to resign? For belittling, insulting and harassing a student?" Glynda looked up from the letter of resignation she had received. "That's impossible!"

"These are sufficient grounds on which to fire you immediately. As a courtesy, I would allow you to resign to retain some amount of your reputation." Ozpin replied.

"Who believed I betrayed the trust of my students! And which student in particular?" Glynda asked, trying to regain some amount of dignity.

"I do." He answered to Glynda's shock. "And Armis. You have not treated him as a student of Beacon, but as an intruder. An object to be discarded."

"He broke into the Vault! He was going to kill Amber!"

"A vault that officially doesn't exist, and we are sworn to secrecy about, and a girl we are keeping in stasis and plan to siphon her Aura, illegally."

Glynda stammered, trying to explain, trying to make an excuse. Armis _was_ an intruder, he had stole, he had attacked, he had… he had…

"Stay still Glynda." Opzin told her, reaching across the table, with hands outstretched to rest upon the sides of Goodwitch's forehead. "As punishment, I shall make you understand."

Unbearable pain flowed through her head, and Glynda could only scream silently, eyes rolling back, as images, visions, memories, poured into her mind. She felt like her head would explode, tear itself apart, but she became grateful as the pain soon stopped. But the agony was nothing compared to what came after. The visions grew more vivid and a war-torn life comprised only of pain, suffering and humiliation was forced upon Goodwitch. She saw through Armis' life. His birth, his creation at the hands of men comprised more of machines than flesh, to Armis' meeting with Ozpin, and the bargain they struck. More memories told of Armis' service to a ruthless and cruel man known only as the 'Inquisitor.' She saw through Armis' eyes. The gruelling teachings, the severe beatings and not one ounce of praise or love for a lost and crying child.

"Oh Oum. You poor boy." Glynda wept as his story continued. "You poor poor boy."

Wherever Armis was there was no respite. She saw through his eyes, the looks of hatred and disgust. The whispers of 'Monster,' 'Mutant' and 'Abhuman' echoed through her head. Glynda _felt_ Armis finally break under the stress, his mind shattering at a final sentence from the inquisitor.

' _You are nothing.'_

Curled into a ball, hiding in the very bowels of the gargantuan battle cruiser, that was his only home, Armis lost himself. And something else emerged.

Wars, abuse, assassinations, abuse, slaughters, abuse. It was an endless cycle of death. Armis no longer reacted. He no longer felt, a blank expression of acceptance permanently adorned his face. This was his normal, this was his life. The blood Armis had spilt in the inquisitors name was immeasurable, just as the bodies he had used to pave his superior's path to glory, piled unfathomably high.

"So much death." Glynda began regaining her vision and could only stare at Ozpin. "How could he live through such pain?"

Ozpin looked back at Glynda's face, as tears poured down her face. "That question only Armis can answer." Ozpin's eyes hardened again. "I only want you to know how much your actions have hurt what I was trying to achieve. I needed to bring him into this school, I needed him to become…" He paused slightly, to think of the correct word. "Invested in Beacons students. Otherwise he would have left and fallen into someone else's hands. The wrong hands. And you, however well meaning you may have been, interfered. Armis, when it comes down to it, is a very shy soul. He fears only the gaze of the people around him. The hatred and the prejudice from his youth still haunts him. Yet you revealed his appearance to the students when he wasn't ready, you called him an 'it' and you continued to be hostile towards him."

"Im sorry…" Glynda replied meekly.

"At any moment," Ozpin continued. "Armis could have become that emotionless machine you have seen. Or worse he could have left and been used against us. Very few have seen Armis without his cloak. Because the rest are long dead. You do not want to make an enemy of Armis Zwolf."

"But… But he isn't emotionless. He isn't that husk of nothing I saw."

"No, somehow along the way, he has regained some form of personality. I only received glimpses into Armis' past just as you have now. Some event must have shattered the emotional block protecting him from the suffering of his life, and dragged him back into reality."

"Oz, I'm so sorry! Please this school is my life, it's all I've known!" Glynda begged.

Ozpin smiled and took the resignation sheet from his desk, easily crumbled it into a ball and deposited it into the bin behind his desk. He stood and walked around the desk, embracing Glynda.

"Your punishment was to know the suffering that Armis endures, just as I do, and to feel the guilt of knowing that you added yet more pain to his burden."

Glynda nodded her head and remained silent, tears streaming down her face. She looked up at Ozpin and was reassured by his kind and forgiving smile.

"Thank you." She whispered.

Standing up and turning around, Glynda Goodwitch held Ozpin closer, in a lasting embrace.

* * *

More nightmares filled Ruby's sleep as she tossed and turned in her bed. It was happening again.

She found herself running through a tight corridor within some sort of bunker complex. The ground shook from a far off explosion. Somehow she knew that that was the sound of a orbit to surface macro cannon bombardment. She looked down at her hands, too once again see that they were not her own. Black heavy gauntlets clutched a large bag, labelled with both the universal red cross of a first aid kit and next to that the same stylised _I_ that Ruby had seen on Armis' weapons crate.

"Horst! Get in here!" Came a booming voice from further down the corridor. It was full of static and seemed too mechanical to be human.

Ruby instinctively replied, in gravelly voice. "Yes, my lord Inquisitor." She, no, he said, as Ruby continued to run down the corridor. She turned right, through an opening towards the voice. What greeted her would have likely caused her to be sick back in reality. Bodies lay strewn across the room, a large operating theatre full of strange but likely medical and surgical equipment. The previous owners of this room had all been wearing what looked like full radiation suits, all once clean and sterilised, like everything within the room. Not so now. Blood and pieces of flesh covered the room in erratic plums of colour against the white background. Each corpse was in a varying state. Some full of black burning holes, cutting though their suits, others were cut apart, either in half, decapitated, rendered limb from limb and everything that could possibly be in-between. It was as though they had been attacked by chainsaws. But, whoever she was simply grunted, accepting the butchery as though it was a good thing.

She heard a moan from the centre of the room, the operating table obscured by the impossible bulk of a man wearing some sort of robotic suit, and she approached. And there he was. Taken straight from some old horror film, a boy lay on the table, moaning and crying in pain. A mass of limbs, flesh and suffering. The boy was on his back, while his stomach had been cut open and organs lay bare. Several slices and cuts covered his body. Skin was folded back along each of his many arms revealing muscles and tendons. It was as though he had been turned inside out. And he was still alive. Several machines pumped a number of fluids into his system, but not one of them looked like anaesthetic.

"Horst! Verdict?" The giant called, his voice booming around the theatre.

"Yes Lord inquisitor!" Once again her, his voice came from her lips instinctively. "The subject has undergone severe amounts of surgery. Additional organs, increased muscle density, increased hand to eye co-ordination among other augmentations. The immune system have been geared towards filtering the toxin's from combat stimulants to allow there prolonged and continued use in combat, without the usual side effects."

"All based off human DNA? No heretical or Xenos material?"

"Correct my lord."

More moans filled the room as the inquisitor paused. A few members of his retinue moved around the rooms performing menial tasks. More artillery shells landing sounded in the distance and pieces of concrete shattered against the floor. A single shard fell directly onto the boy on the table, a gash forming on his forehead. His restraints shook and strained as he woke up and began shouting and roaring incoherently.

Ruby was compelled across the room, standing above the struggling boy, yet she didn't check on the boy. She checked the restrains. The boy suddenly realised that he wasn't alone. Ruby stared down at the boy, seeing the plea's and the agony in his eyes.

"Please…" Came a hollow whisper from the boy.

She turned her head to her, no, his superior. "My lord? Your orders? Shall we purge this foul place?" She, Horst questioned.

A woman with short cut white hair stepped forward. Clad completely in large black plate, complete with a gas mask covering the bottom half of her face, the woman hefted a large double-barrelled flamethrower and lit the ignition nozzle, signalling readiness.

"Ready to kill this filth, my lord." She spoke through the gas mask.

At the armoured woman's words, the boy's head snapped round and strained against the restraints to look at the woman.

"Please…" He mumbled again, his voice hoarse. The boy's eyes were pleading begging. But not for release. "Please… Kill me."

He looked back at Horst, at Ruby, begging her. "Kill me!" His voice became louder.

The woman looked at the inquisitor. "My Lord?"

The inquisitor took off his helmet, revealing a shaven head and a face half ravaged by a jagged scar across the side of his jaw, down to his chin. His throat was covered in shining metal, a replacement for the original, if the trajectory of that scar was anything to go by. He walked up to the table, and leant down, staring directly into the boy's eyes. Ruby could see a tattoo on the back of the man's head. A two headed eagle, the Imperial Aquila, Horst's mind recognised.

"Horst!"

"Yes my Lord?"

"Stitch him up."

Desperation filled the boys voice. "No!" He struggled harder at his restrains. "Kill me!"

Ruby got closer and unwillingly stuck a needle into the boy's neck. Actual anaesthetic. But the boy continued to wail as the inquisitor walked out of the room, the thuds of other footfalls growing quieter as the rest of his retinue followed.

"NO! NO! NO!" He cried. After letting out one last hopeless howl, the boy fell silent, crashing into unconsciousness. He would only wake up to an uncertain, grim future.

* * *

"NO!" Ruby screamed into her pillow as she jerked awake.

She had been crushing her pillow against herself, her face enveloped into its comfy embrace. She got out of bed and dropped down from her bunk bed. Luckily she hadn't woken anyone from their slumber, and her team were still sound asleep. She groggily stumbled towards the shower. She briefly noticed that the sun had recently risen over the horizon. Just past dawn. Ruby needed to wake herself up and she quickly striped off her pyjamas, almost tripping over as she did so, and she walked into the shower, her mind too preoccupied by her nightmare and too tired to focus on anything else.

'What had that nightmare been about.' Ruby thought, as she was hit by a blast of hot water.

Team RWBY's showers was something they thanked Oum for whenever they used it. As they were a completely female group, the showers were all together in quite a spacious, tiled room. You could easily fit the entire team in there and there would be a showerhead for each of them. However, one problem was that when you started a hot shower, after a while the room filled with steam. So as Ruby faced the wall and began washing herself, she suddenly noticed that the room had already been filled with smoke. And she hadn't turned on the showers.

Ruby took a few steps back, but before she could turn around she knocked into something. Something tall. Something warm. Someone. Ruby slowly turned one hundred and eighty degrees to see her opposite had done the same. Ruby froze. Staring down at her was Armis Zwolf. Twelve armed Armis. A very surprised, very angry and _very_ _naked_ Armis. Both paused for a moment and looked at each other.

Armis roared in surprise and frustration and leapt backwards. Ruby screamed and froze, completely caught off guard, no idea what to do. She briefly heard a crash as someone fell out of bed in the other room, and more shouts and calls for her name, but she quickly forgot that, as she looked up again at Armis through the smoke. He had literally jumped into the top corner of the room and now hung there, his feet against the wall, and his arms gripping any surface to keep himself in the corner like a spider.

Ruby could see each of his arms gripping some crevice in the wall, but the most curious of which was his two metal arms. Unlike the rest these two arms were completely composed of metal, wires and servos. The metal had been blackened and stained with ashes or coal, but the shower now revealed the shining silvery reflection of the original metal. The talons at the end of each arm were piercing the stonewall and giving Armis a handhold.

Ruby then began to notice the cuts and scarring across Armis' exposed body. The dots began to connect in her mind. A long faded white scar traced from the bottom of his chest down to his stomach. Several more faded scars, identical to one another, could be seen over Armis' shoulders, the joints of his arms and at his sides. The boy from her nightmare, strapped to the operating table and Armis right in front of her were one and the same.

"Get out!"

Ruby was once again snapped back to reality. She wasn't really paying attention and continued to stand there.

"Damn it woman! _Get out_!" Armis shouted at her, his voice echoing, until it became almost deafening.

'Oh yeah.' Ruby thought. 'Armis is up there.'

The dark haired girl suddenly realised the full extent of her situation and her face became as red as her cloak. That unfortunately had been left in a draw next to her bunk bed. She panicked and tried desperately to cover herself. The black body suit she had always seen over Armis when he had taken off his cloak, was gone, but luckily he wasn't completely naked. A small area of the suit seemed to still be attached to him, from his waist downwards. But Ruby could see the suit quickly flaking away as water hit and washed it off Armis' body and a stream of black particles was funnelling down the drain.

"What are you doing?! Get out for the Emperor's sake!" Armis now screamed at her, and now that Ruby finally got her mind out of the shock and surprise, she was happy to oblige him. She sprinted out of the shower, and into the arms of Yang.

"Woah! What's going on?" Yang exclaimed, hugging a naked Ruby. "Blake get her some clothes please."

As Blake routed around Ruby's clothes drawer, and handed Ruby some cloths, Weiss walked to the door way. Ruby used a bit of semblance and quickly got dressed into her uniform, complete with hood and cape.

"Where's Armis?" She queried.

Yang drew her own conclusions. "That bastard! Spying on my sister, I'll-"

Ruby quickly ran in front of the shower entrance and waved her hands in front of her. Her face was still bright red and she dissuaded Yang.

"No Yang! Don't go in there!"

"I'm going to put him through a wall!" Yang shouted, eyes beginning to flare red, trying to push past Ruby. "Why do you keep defending him?"

"Because I walked in on him!"

There was a slight pause as the rest of her team comprehended what their leader had said.

"What?" Came the simultaneous reply. "Why?" followed shortly after.

Ruby hid her face by pulling her hood down on her head. "Because when I woke up, I had a nightmare so I woke up early, then I wanted a shower, and wasn't paying attention, and then I bumped into Armis, who was already in the shower before I got into the shower. And then… And then…" Ruby's voice picked up speed until it became unintelligible, and steam seemed to be coming from underneath her hood, as Ruby rocked her head from side to side. Luckily her team were used to it. After quickly regaining their leader and getting her back to her senses they contemplated what to do.

After a few minutes of debate, Ruby got back the courage to knock on the door. Well, more like her team all democratically voted that it was Ruby's fault. They also agreed that no one wanted to piss off the twelve-armed, naked man, and Ruby had already done that, so she had nothing to lose. Ruby reached for the shower door.

"We're right behind your Ruby!" Weiss whisper shouted encouragement.

Ruby turned to see Weiss, Blake and Yang hiding behind a hastily constructed fort on the other side of the room, using wardrobes, books and pillows as sandbags.

'Traitors.' She thought as she knocked on the door. "Armis? You ok?" She asked, slowly opening the door. "Im sorry."

The door was quickly slammed shut by something. Ruby waited a few seconds and tried knocking again. "Im really sorry Armis. Do you need anything?"

A pause

"Get me my cloak."

Another pause.

"Please."

Ruby felt something heavy hit her in the pack and drape over her. Removing it from over her head she saw that it was Armis' cloak. Behind her the rest of the girls were out of sight, hiding behind their fort. Yang held her hand up, signalling thumbs up. Ruby sighed and slowly opened the door again. She put the cloak and her arm through the door and she saw Armis' arm shoot down from above the door and snatch it from her hand.

'Armis is hanging above the door again.' Ruby thought, as she hastily beat back a retreat and dived behind the team RWBY fort.

"Are we dead?" Weiss asked, only half joking.

They all heard the door slam open, and the girls glanced over the fort, to briefly catch a glimpse of Armis, shrouded in his black cloak, dart around the room and the bunk beds. And then smash through the window.

"Did he just-"

"Yeah."

"Again?"

"Yeah."

* * *

After trying to tidy their room, tipping wardrobes back over and clearing up any glass from the smashed window, team RWBY had a emergency meeting.

"So… What's he like in the shower?"

"Yang." Blake sighed. "Enough."

"No, but seriously Rubes, you have to tell me something." Yang smirked, finding something completely hilarious about this entire situation, which was lost on her teammates. "He packing?"

Ruby remained silent and only hugged her legs closer to her chest. Yang's face suddenly dropped at her sister's expression.

"Ok, that's not good." Weiss said, noticing the expression on her face as well.

Ruby hesitated and was about to open her mouth to speak but there was a knock on the door. The girls looked at each other.

"Armis?" Blake whispered, questioning her friends.

Yang shrugged her shoulders and went to answer the door, Ember Celica unsheathing round her wrists.

"Who is it?" She called, holding back her fist ready for a strike.

"Ozpin." Came the headmaster's voice. "I'm looking for Armis."

Yang froze and quickly ran back into the room, to take off her gauntlets and hide them. A string of quiet curses followed her. Ruby took her place and opened the door. Outside stood both Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch. Although Glynda looked as though she hadn't got to sleep last night. There were bags under her eyes, and… had she been crying?

"Where is Armis?" Ozpin asked, a kind smile at his lips.

"Errrrr..." Ruby started, stepping to the side.

Ozpin looked into the room and straight out into Beacon's court, through the broken window. His smiled notably dropped after that. And Glynda looked horrified at some realisation.

"Ah." Ozpin said, his question silently answered. "This could be a problem."

* * *

A few hours later, a group of men in black and red suits exited a club, laughing and jeering at anyone who passed them by. They took the main roads for a few minutes, before turning down an alley, sheltering from the light. They began setting down booze, cigarettes and other narcotics on some cardboard boxes and dumpsters. A few took looks over their shoulders for the tell tale signs of police and worse, huntsmen. But with nothing coming, they set about their ill-gotten gains. As they began to drink, smoke and inject one of the suited men, walked further down the alley to relieve himself, but stumbled on something on the floor, dropping his beer.

"Oy! Lads! This hobo thinks its funny to make me drop my beer." The man shouted down the alley, and his friends soon gathered.

After a certain amount of insults at the man leaning up against the wall, a black cloak and hood covering him, one man unleashed a kick at the seemingly defenceless target. That was until the thug's leg was severed from his body. There was silence as realisation set in and the thugs backed off. Then the screams started as the man with one leg fell to the floor, a pool of blood filling the alley. The cloaked man stood up from the ground and blades sprouted from underneath the cloak. Seeming their foe outnumbered, the thugs drew axes and clubs, and surged forwards to avenge their comrade. They struck as one, but not a single strike hit. Each weapon was held in a deadlock by a separate blade. The men pushed and forced, but their opponent wouldn't budge.

The hooded man turned his head to each of their straining faces, and delivered his verdict.

" _ **You. Are. Nothing!**_ "

* * *

News broadcasts later that day told of a man sprinting out onto the road from a back alley, covered in blood. He was hit by a speeding car, and sent crashing into the ground. He was known as Victor Hughes, a petty thug, with a small criminal record. Born in a small town outside the walls of Vale know as Jermanie, his family moved here when he was a child. Witnesses trying to save the dying man reported that Victor was repeating a single word just before he died.

"Metzger."

"Metzger."

"Metzger!"

* * *

 ** _Armis may have overreacted slightly, and Ozpin's worst fears may become reality._** ** _Much of Armis' life is being discovered, but much still remains shrouded in mystery. And what exactly is 'Metzger?'_**

 ** _To Guest: *Wink wink* *Nudge nude* Your welcome._**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: Glynda Goodwitch has now gained an insight into Armis' previous life, but it may be too late for apologies. Armis, after a embarrassing moment with Ruby that revealed the full extent of the surgery required to craft him into what he is today, jumped though team RWBY's dorm window and disappeared.**_

 _ **Warwolf82: Good eye sir! And you may or may not be right about this chapter. Read on and find out.**_

 _ **Emperor KingPerby: Thank you. Ruby seems to be warming up to him though don't you think? Maybe the rest of the team too will follow suit.**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

It had been two days since Armis had sent himself crashing through team RWBY's window, and disappeared. Despite search parties scouring the school grounds, not a trace of the many armed man was found other than the small pile of broken glass in the courtyard. But Ruby already knew that. She had run so many laps around the school each morning that Ozpin had begun to receive complains about hallways filling with rose petals. And that wasn't the worst of it.

In Vale, news had been reporting incidences of mass homicides. So far they had been limited only to criminals. Drug dealers, gangs or illegal dust sellers. But that didn't take away from the horror of each of these killings. Police had trouble identifying the bodies, mutilated beyond recognition. But the culprit always left one survivor. And all chanted a name.

'Metzger.'

A child, who likely stumbled upon the murder while it was taking place, curled into a ball, crying.

An old man, who would only sing the praises of the man, 'who had the balls to stand up to the thugs of this city.'

And a crate containing a bound woman, who wanted only to stay locked up, or 'Metzger would come for her.'

It was Vales newest debate. Half the news believed him to be a psychotic madman, abusing the justice system for his own gains. The other heralded him a vigilante the city needed, when all other authorities had failed. Now dubbed the 'Metzger killer' by the police, the only information know about him was from vague witness testimonies. A red eyed monster. A shadow that disappeared and reappeared in an instant. A tornado of blood and steel.

Ruby mulled over the recent news as she waited in the elevator to Ozpin's office. By now 'Metzger' had racked up a body count of well over a dozen known criminals. No civilian casualties. Appearing, killing and then disappearing, leaving only a trail of blood-stained alleyways and dismembered bodies in his wake. It was all too familiar, but Ruby dared not to draw any conclusions. Her team was with her, but no one spoke. The elevator pinged, and opened, allowing the four girls to file into the clock tower. Ozpin looked to them from across his desk, elbows on the table, fingers interlocked.

"Team RWBY, you will be tasked with finding Armis' Zwolf."

There were a few surprised looks from the team, but Ruby could only smile.

"We have reason to believe that Armis is in Vale." He continued. "You four will be going into the city tonight and it will be your job to convince Armis to return to Beacon."

"Yes sir!" Ruby almost shouted, unable to contain her excitement. 'A mission to save Armis…' The image of two small nevermores being knocked from the sky by a giant stone crossed her mind.

"However…" Ozpin added, stopping the team from leaving. "Glynda Goodwitch will be accompanying you for this mission and lending her assistance."

Ruby froze and after a moment turned to Ozpin. "That may not be a good idea sir."

Her team all nodded their agreement. Ozpin's eyes snapped onto Ruby. He was not in a talkative mood.

"Are you questioning your headmaster Ruby?" His voice holding a forceful edge to it.

"No sir!" All of the assembled girls yelped.

"Good dismissed. Your bullhead will be leaving in an hour. Don't be late."

Team RWBY had never boarded an elevator, nor subtly mashed the close doors button faster than they had that day.

* * *

"Yo Brother! You heard about this Metzger guy recently?" Asked a grimm masked man, with a pair of antlers sprouting from his head.

"Yeah, something about a mass murderer, nothin' special." Came his brother's reply.

They were both standing watch over one of the White Fang's warehouse headquarters. The White Fang were an almost exclusively Faunus terrorist organisation, hell-bent on balancing the inequality between humans and Faunus. With force. To them humans were nothing more than filth that oppressed their fellow faunus and reaped the benefits of exploiting their kind. Dressed in the signature garb of a Faunus extremist, a grimm mask, and white and black robes with the symbol of a grimm and three red scars emblazoned on their backs, the two brothers held semi-automatic dust rifles, lazily at their sides. They had been stuck with guard duty since daybreak.

"No man, he's doing the same work as us!"

"Standing guard?"

"No! I mean cleaning this city of human filth. He's been going round eliminating loads of gangs and thugs from Vale."

His brother grunted. "Fair enough. Well, as long as this 'Metzger guy' stays killing filth, then-"

The faunus had no time to finish his sentence as a blade passed through the back of his neck and out through his throat. He had a few seconds to glance down at the shimmering humming blade and at his brother, who was already bleeding out onto the floor.

"Abhuman filth." Was the last word the faunus guard heard as he fell forward off the blade.

He collapsed down to his knees and then into a heap on the floor, his lifeblood slowly filtering down into a nearby drain, joining his brothers who lay next to him. Over his body stepped a cloaked figure, bearing two black blades, the blood of their recent victims sizzling against their surface and evaporating. A third arm rose up from the mass of cloak and knocked three times against the door the two had been guarding. A few seconds passed, before a clang of metal sounded out into the night. The door opened to reveal another masked faunus.

"Yeah yeah, I'm comin.' What's-" The man stopped dead in his tracks. There stood a man cloaked in shadow, red glowing eyes boring into his soul from underneath his hood. Behind him, two corpses, surrounded by pools of blood. The faunus had never felt such terror rush through his heart. The monster took a step forwards and that was when he screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing throughout the warehouse and reaching each of its occupants.

"Metzger!"

He had now idea why he screamed it. The thought just popped into his head. The faunus may have never heard of the man or of his exploits, but somehow he knew exactly who this was, and exactly why he was hear. He could only scream louder as a bolt shell detonated inside his skull, blowing it into red, grey and white pieces of flesh, brain matter and bone.

Shouts of alarm within the warehouse soon followed. Gunshots rang out and flashes of explosions could all be seen coming out of any of the warehouses second floor windows. And then the cries for help began, and the screams of pain. Under all that noise blades clashed with blades, metal cut through flesh and limbs and heads rolled, painting the warehouse red.

* * *

Armis charged forwards cutting two men apart with a blur of humming blades. He quickly shifted his weight and leapt backwards over a third, who tried to club him from behind. Several flashing wires fell from above the faunus and snapped taut around him as Armis landed. With a flourish Armis pulled, reducing the beastman to sliced meat, as the razor wire cut through him. He pulled in the now dripping wire and held it in a mesh pattern. Dodging a slash from one of the white fang, Armis wrapped the wire round the woman's weapon arm and the kicked the girl back, her arm pulling apart. The woman let out a puppies whimper as she lay on her back and clutched the stump of her arm.

Here he was again, back in the slaughter. The only consolation was that these were damned souls already in the Emperor's eyes. Terrorist was just another word for traitor in Armis' head and these were abhuman. Long had their kind been written off from the list of sanctioned abhumans the imperium tolerated. But while Armis' arms and body moved to the flow of combat, his blades and guns felling any White Fang who tried to kill him, his mind and thoughts were somewhere else.

'How dare she…'

Armis leapt over a warehouse crate and two daggers flashed out from his cloak and cut into the opposite ends of a masked man's neck. He had been cowering behind cover, and he would remain there. Only headless.

'She had no right. No right to see me in my moment of weakness.'

Armis ducked behind a wall of boxes to avoid a hail of gunfire and then quickly sprinted round, getting in close, into the crowd of shouting faunus. He broke a man's neck with his original pair of arms, hands crushing the mask under their grip, while the metal talons of his bionic impaled a man through the gut, tossing him into another of his comrades.

'I should have… I should of…'

He span on his heel, a transonic blade parting a horned abhuman's head from its body. A black-gloved hand shot out and grasped the head, using it to smash the skull against the opposing skull of a White Fang who sought to take a shot at him at close range. It let out an inhuman caw as it fell to the ground, stunned. Armis stepped forward and pulled the trigger of a stub carbine under his cloak, ending the beastman.

'I would have…'

Armis let out a growl of frustration as his thoughts bubbled over, the indecision of his mind, fuelling his anger. Down on the other side of the warehouse a group of Faunus charged towards him, some wielding swords, some nothing but their fists. He pulled out _Honesty_ and _Humility_ and opened fire. The bark and roar of the twin bolt pistols was joined by the sharp consecutive cracks of stub carbines, as Armis pulled two out from his cloak to join the cascade.

'You would have what? Killed her?'

Faunus died without distinction, as bolt shells detonated and .30 calibre rounds smashed into their ranks. Pieces of abhuman sprayed the warehouse as the mass reactive shells picked their bodies apart, the remaining shrapnel cutting bloody trenches into the remains. Armis retracted his twin bolt pistols and brought _Disappointment_ and _Death_ to bear. The remaining faunus survivors ran for cover, a woman screamed as a bolt shell caught her in the back and a hole the size of a football was punched through her chest.

'She knows! She's seen me!' Armis argued with himself. "It is the only option.'

A sudden quiet settled over the warehouse, apart from the drip drop of blood hitting the floor. Any faunus alive was shivering in the shadows, terrified of the monster stalking them. A shallow whimper sounded from the dark and everyone held their breath. A few minutes passed. No one dare peek and no sound of their assailant could be heard.

'Then why didn't you? You had every opportunity. A blade in the back, a bullet to the head. Or perhaps a flame from the dark?'

The survivors collectively let out a breath of relief as no retaliation came. Or so they thought. A hiss followed by the sound of a blow torch cut the silence and filled the arena. A cat-eyed faunus, seeing through the dark saw only his doom approach. A wall of orange and white.

'You're pathetic. How far you have fallen. All it took was a bunch of teenage girls and a shower to break Armis Zwolf.'

Armis unleashed burning promethium upon the wailing abhuman's hiding behind whatever could cover them. The roiling tide of hot flame poured forth from a set of hand flamer clutched in Armis' palms. It flowed like water past all obstacles and turned into a blazing inferno as it ate through the vulnerable mass behind. Screams reached a new pitch as body's flailed against the flames. A woman tried to tear off her mask and hood, but the flames had already consumed her face. She howled her pain and ran a few steps, before collapsing on the floor.

'No. I will not kill her.'

'Why not?' He felt himself ask.

As the last of the screams died, the warehouse ignited slowly and fire spread through the building. But Armis used this time to sit upon a overturned crate. The sound of burning almost soothed him as he closed his eyes and meditated.

'Because Ruby Rose is the only one not to look at me in fear. She is the only one without the suspicion, the hate and the disgust in her eye. She is the only one who has done nothing but help me, despite both my appearance and my actions.'

* * *

Cinder smelt burning. And it wasn't her fire this time. She could see a black column smoke rising in the distance, likely close to one of the White Fangs hidden warehouses, if not the building itself. Emerald and Mercury were walking just ahead of her on the docks. They both glanced back at their leader and she only nodded her head. 'Find out what was happening,' was her unspoken order. Emerald and Mercury ran side by side across the docks. The sound of fire burning and crackling reached their ears before they saw the building itself. While not completely consumed by flames, the warehouse had a good portion of the building in flames.

The pair ran towards the main door, already open, and ran through. And there lay the corpses of the entire faunus detachment assigned to this warehouse. Both guards and workers. Some were consumed by flames of the warehouse, incinerated to the bone, while others were dead from gunshot wounds, blade slashes. Emerald stepped forwards to investigate further, but she stumbled on something. She screamed as she recognised the object as half of a head, the eyes rolling listlessly in its socket. Other body parts littered the floor, either organs and limbs or just pieces of red meat. Mercury was able to hold his stomach, but Emerald instantly threw up onto the floor.

"Who would do something like this?" She managed to blurt out.

"Ah, finally! A Huntsman and a Huntswoman." Came a voice from above them.

The pair looked up and took combat stances. On the rafters above the two, was a clocked man, half obscured by shadow, the other half illuminated by the light from the fire. A hood covered his face and red eyes glared down at them.

"Your response time has much to be desired, Hunters."

Emerald aimed her pair of bladed SMG's at the man. "And who are you? Why did you kill these people?"

"Apologies." The hood appeared to bow in greeting. "My name is Metzger. I believe you have heard of me. As for these 'people,' they were terrorists. White Fang faunus who had been stocking dust and firearms for some reason."

Emerald and Mercury looked at each other. Yes they knew of Metzger. He had been the one terrorising the local gangs of Vale recently and on more than one occasion interfering with Cinders business. This man had now singlehandedly destroyed one of Cinder's main bases of operation in Vale, as well as almost destroyed a large supply of dust. He needed to go. They nodded at each other.

"You are hunters, aren't you?" Metzger asked again.

"Yeah, that's us." Mercury replied, kicking into the air, aiming at Armis.

"What are you-" Metzger started, before he was cut of by a blast of air that shot out from Mercury's foot.

He reacted quickly, holding onto the metal bar stretching across the warehouse. However the air blast shook the rafter and it snapped, causing Metzger to fall to the ground.

Emerald saw the cloaked figure fall behind a wall of crates and began moving forward, guns up. She turned the corner around the crates to reveal no one behind them. And then a rustle of cloak whipped past her, and she turned into a punch that clashed against her aura and sent her flying back against the crates. She opened fire blindly, but nothing seemed to hit. Another strike hit against her side, and then another and another, the air knocked out of her. She swung her guns forward, the chains attached to them sweeping forward, but Metzger caught them in his cloak and dragged her forward into a kick. Knocked back and dazed but still clutching the chains, she could do nothing as she was thrown with her guns across the warehouse towards Mercury, who had been running forwards towards the fight. He luckily had time to catch her.

"Does the master their need my help?" Mercury said with a smirk.

"Your such an ass." Came her reply, setting her feet to the ground again.

Metzger jumped at them, and Mercury tried to meet him with a kick, but the cloak just whirled past it. He felt a fist against his leg, but his aura held. Metzger continued past Mercury, who was trying to turn around, and attacked Emerald. Ducking under a swing from a bladed submachine gun, and stopped the second one by grabbing holds of the arm swinging it. Metzger sent a strong right cross at Emeralds face that sent her backwards. He turned, still clutching Emerald's arm as Mercury approached again, and he threw her in the silver haired boys way. Mercury ducked under his flying companion and sent more kicks at the cloaked figure. Metzger effortlessly dodged each one, or turned them aside with his gauntleted hands. He caught Mercury's leg as it came down for a scissor kick, and flipped the boy backwards. Mercury back flipped and landed on his feet, but Metzger sprung forward and followed up with a two-footed kick to his chest, that sent him skidding back across the floor.

'Metal legs… Interesting.' Metzger thought, as he ducked sidestepped away from a chained blade.

Emerald twirled in the air, her blades a tornado that threatened to shred Metzger. He dodged and weaved around the deadly weapons and as the second passed over his head once again, Metzger darted in close, past the chains and he gripped Emerald arms, stopping all momentum. A second pair of arms shot out from his cloak, to Emeralds horror, and grasped her head. These arms were metal and taloned, the shining metal, red with previously spilt blood. She could feel her aura begin to buckle as they squeezed, the razors edge at the end of each claw, drawing closer and closer. She screamed as the claws soon took up her entire vision. Emerald felt her aura break at her forehead and she closed her eyes. But instead, Metzger's talons moved above her eyes and cut two long but shallow groves above her brow. And then he pushed her away from him.

She opened her eyes to see the cloaked devil a few feet away. She felt blood on her brow.

"What did you do?" She asked, raising her hands too her eyebrows. She was bleeding. A lot of bleeding.

Metzger only turned away to face Mercury. But as Emerald reached for her weapons again, releasing her hold on her head caused the buildup of blood to pour down her face and into her eyes. Emeralds vision turned red, and then black as she shut them. Wiping her eyes to no avail, more blood filled them, blinding her.

"What have you done Metzger?" She screamed blindly. "I can't see. I can't see!"

Emerald stumbled and fell on a corpse lying on the ground. She reached out to get herself to her feet, but more blood flowed into her eyes. Her hand slipped on the slick surface and she fell to the ground again. Emerald couldn't move her hands or more blood would pour into her eyes and whenever she did move, she only slipped on the blood of faunus that coated the floor.

"Just rest for now!" Mercury shouted. "Ill get you up soon and I'm done with this guy."

More sweeping and twisting leg kicks and the occasional punch were directed at Metzger, but the cloak only nimbly avoided each and every strike. He sent a blast of air at point blank, but Metzger predicted its trajectory and slipped past it. Mercury quickly jabbed at the man's hood, only for a right hand to catch it by his wrist and hold on tight. Using Metzger's weight to try and pull him forward into a kick with his left leg. This too was thwarted when he caught the kick and held onto Mercury's leg by his ankle. With a right hand.

"What the fu-?" Mercury started, before he saw a left hand emerge from the blackened cloak and jab at his caught leg.

The device was similar to a club, comprised of a hilt and a guard, but the remaining length was thick and long like a blunt sword. At the end stood two prongs. Mercury had no idea what it was. Until it proceeded to bury itself into his leg, punching through his trousers and into the metal beneath. Aura was a strange thing. It was a protective shield yes but was limited to protecting the body. Nothing else. And this wasn't working out well for Mercury as the tazer lance's prongs connected with his artificial legs. A huge current of electricity surged through his body and he screamed in pain, the sound of his voice fluctuating with the flow of electricity. The dust power source in his leg overloaded, and the glass containing all the dust shattered and detonated on contact with the forks of lightning pouring from Metzger's tazer lance. The explosion sent both combatants backwards, Metzger landing on his feet and with a quick glance at the smoking tazer, stowed it in his cloak. His opponent however hadn't been so lucky.

Mercury was sent spiralling across the warehouse, to land on the still un-burnt part of the building. His left leg had disappeared, his shoe somewhere on the other side of the room. The tazer had managed to shut down the dust generator in his right leg as well. He was virtually legless. He began crawling back, able to prop himself against the wall before Metzger got to him. The cloaked figure stood above him, red glowing eyes glaring from his hood.

"Your lucky you know."

"What?" Mercury asked confused, his face contorted in pain from his stump of a leg.

"Your lucky that you are hunter. I have some sort of a… agreement with your ilk. If not…" Metzger kneeled down getting his face close to Mercury's.

Mercury turned his head from Metzger. He could smell the stink of death and blood over the ashes of the burning building. This was no huntsman-in-training. This was no hunter either. This was a killer. A stone cold assassin. Mercury could only think of the irony of it.

'Just like dad.'

Metzger rose to his full height and decided to nail in his point.

"If you weren't hunters, I would have-" Armis started before the wall to his right exploded and a giant golden shield crashed into his side.

He was forced off the ground and carried along against his will, into the opposite wall and through it. Silence dominated the warehouse, as Mercury just sat there, not believing his luck. He couldn't stop a cocky smirk once again covering his face.

"You would have?" He asked to the now absent Metzger.

He paused listening for a reply that would never come.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

"Such is always the way of assassins." Armis heard as he crashed against the concrete outside of the warehouse and sprawled across the docks.

Armis had definitely felt at least three of his ribs break, as well as a fracture in one of his shoulder blades. Whatever hit him had been strong, he felt like he had been hit by a chimera troop transport. And yes, he would know what that felt like. He wiped the blood that had begun leaking out of his nose and stood up, weapons concealed and sheathed, but nevertheless ready.

"Skulking and hiding in the shadows." Armis heard again, the feminine voice that spoke to him, and he rose his head to get a better look at his foe. "Let us see how you fare when you are out in the open."

The woman who assaulted him was clad completely in a golden suit of plate and scalemail. She was hefting a large claymore, steel blade with a gold plated hilt, in one hand, while the other gripped a large tower shield that almost completely covered her body. She did not appear to be encumbered by the weight these two handed implements usually entitled. Armis remained silent and began stalking around her looking for an opening. This was no foe to be trifled with.

"Oh? You wish to fight?" The woman spoke, turning and tracking her cloaked opponents movements. She smiled and held her shield in front of her and her sword back ready to swing. "How refreshing."

Armis charged forwards, pulling out Disappointment and Death and unleashing their fury as he ran. The bolt shells were deflected against the tower sheild as the woman surged to meet him. As the sword came arcing towards him, Armis jumped and planted a foot against the top of the golden shield and leapt above her. He could see her face, unflinching and her hair flowing to the side, her body already turning to face where he would land. But before he did so, Armis fired the last two bolts from _Disappointment_ and _Death_ , at her head. They detonated shortly after being blunted against her aura. But the woman continued to turn, her momentum unchanged. Armis had to quickly jump forward again, away from this golden titan, as her blade threw up concrete, burrowing into the ground where he had once been. Armis switched the two bolt pistols out for their twins, as well as arming himself with four stub carbines. He did not open fire and allowed his original pair of arms to draw his pair of transonic blades. They hummed and sparked with barely contained energy.

His opponent cocked her head at his choice of weapon. The humming blades were an oddity to her, she had never seen or _felt_ anything like the humming black swords Armis wielded. She strode forwards again at a steady march, shield once again pressing forward. Armis stabbed forward with both of his sword, both bouncing off his opponent's shield, without a scratch or a spark. The sword descended once again, and Armis weaved under it, unleashing two bolt pistols and four stub carbines worth of bullets into the woman's side. However the woman reacted fast enough that only a few shells hit, the rest bounced harmlessly off his shield. The woman pushed forward again, the metal mass of her shield pushing Armis back. She swung at him again, which he swiftly dodged. The second swing he deflected a side, by crossing the two transonic blades into an x, and pushing it to the side. He had by then used his hidden arms to reload all four bolt pistols and he consecutively placed a dozen bolts into the golden woman. But this failed to slow her, bolt shells detonating inches away from her body and face, deflected by aura.

She dropped her sword to the floor and tried to punch through Armis's cloak. While such an unorthodox attack certainly surprised him, he was able to maneuver out of the way of the streaking gauntlet. What did truly surprise him was when he struck once again against the woman's shield, but he felt the transonic stop a centimetre away from the metal and slide off.

'It was as though her shield is made of...' Armis cursed to himself. 'Emperor damned Aura!'

The woman brought her sword hand back around to backhand Armis, but he felt that he had dodged far back enough to avoid it. That was until, a few seconds before her hand passed him by, her sword disappeared from the ground and rematerialised in her hand. Armis had those few seconds to try and move further away, but the blade succeeded in piercing through his cloak and slashing into his shoulder. He hissed in pain and retreated, still holding his two blades above his cloak, guarding him. A spare pair of hands took out his personal medical kit and began patching himself up.

He looked up at his opponent, who whipped her sword to her side, splattering a small trail of blood, his blood to the floor. Transonic blades were designed to match the resonant frequency of any material by striking it. After a few seconds, the blade would match that frequency and effortlessly part almost any material. But against aura, the blade was litterally hitting the manifestation of a persons soul. The blades have nothing to cut. And this woman somehow had been able to manipulate her aura to cover her shield.

"Now you truly have my attention." She told him. "Weapons that in all my years I have not once seen. More than two arms, able to wield these weapons simultaneously. And no Aura. Fascinating. May I have your name before I kill you?"

Armis chuckled. This woman reminded him too much of home. Of the inquisitor.

"Metzger." He laughed. "May I have yours?"

"Of course. A lie, to cover up your true identity, but I shall indulge you. My name is Seraphim."

"Well I guess we both have the same reasons for lying."

Seraphim smiled. "Touche."

* * *

Ruby sat next to the cargo bay doors as the bullhead set of towards Vale. Glynda Goodwitch had already been seated on the bullhead, and Ruby had sat opposite her. It had taken them just under half an hour before they reached Vale and their pilot spoke through their headpieces.

"I'm seeing fire coming from one of the dock warehouse. Should we investigate?"

"No." Glynda replied. "Our mission does not involve the docks."

The rest of the team looked down trodden, but the pilot spoke again.

"Hold up, there's two people fighting on the docks. A woman in gold and someone in a black heavy cloak weaving about the place."

Ruby's eyes glistened. "That him." She got nods from her teammates. "Set us down."

"Miss Goodwitch?" The pilot asked.

"Set us down." She confirmed.

As the bullhead grew closer team RWBY was able to view the fight.

"Armis looks hurt." Blake stated.

Ruby stared at Armis and as Blake had said, he was bleeding from a wound in his shoulder. She quickly spoke into her headpiece.

"Get us down there, get us down there, get us down there right now!"

* * *

The two clashed once again, in a stalemate. One could not hit the other. And the other could not pierce one's Aura. Armis dodged a diagonal sword swing, and unleashed a gout of flame at Seraphim from one of his hand flamers. The scorching flames dissipated against her shield and she pushed against it. Armis maneuvered around it, while she couldn't see past the bellowing fire, and bathed the woman's body in prometium. His second hand flamer joined the other, twin gouts forming a inferno, Seraphim at the centre. Armis piled on the pressure expending the remaining fuel tank, in an attempt to cook the armoured warrior. But as the flamethrowers spluttered and burnt out, Seraphim strode forward once again, smoke pouring off of her, orange flames in her wake. Unharmed.

Armis stored the pair of flamers and readied himself again. Seraphim suddenly paused, and lowered her weapons. The sound of a bullhead approaching could be heard a few seconds later. Armis too saw it approach, and Seraphim turned from him. Armis would exploit this opportunity. He had finally figured out how to finally wound this seemingly invincible woman. Seraphim could see a girl standing in the open bay, a red sniper rifle pointed directly at her.

"Interference, just as the fight begins. Typical." She spoke to herself, completely ignoring the impact as a .50 calibre round bounced off the aura protecting her head.

Several more struck, but she did not flinch or move, completely impervious. Seraphim turned to find Armis not behind her, but below her. Armis had dashed, noise covered by the approaching bullhead, up close and low. The moment she had noticed him, he unloaded with four stub carbines, each round impacting against her face, or under her chin. Momentarily stunned, Armis sprung upwards towards Seraphims right arm, the last of his ammunition spent. His cloak parted revealing each and everyone of his limbs, each grabbing hold of Seraphim's arm. The six of his left arms held onto separate sections of her arm, her aura preventing him from touching the armour. His other right arms all reeled back. And struck as one against the joint in Seraphims armour where her elbow would be, his left arms pulling her hand back and around the point of impact.

Another lesson to learn about aura is that it carried momentum to your body. A punch with enough strength should send its target backwards from the force alone. A arm, even covered by a immense amount of aura, could still be moved. And when it was moved far enough in the wrong direction and with enough force? A sickly crack and tear of bending metal split the air, jointed by a harrowing scream of pain, audible even to Ruby as she grew closer on the bullhead.

Armis pushed off from the woman's armoured chest, his job done. Seraphim's arm had been snapped backwards, at an angle no human should naturally hold. The metal of her armour around the break had torn and split, blood beginning to gush from the opening. The woman herself was hissing in pain. She began retreating towards the hole she had made through the burning warehouse, her sword and shield dematerialising. Her face still contorted in pain, she looked towards the cloaked man, who hurt her so.

"Impressive, Metzger." She suddenly smiled, and with only a murmur of discomfort, she wrenched her armour back into place with her other unharmed hand. The blood dripping from her arm, slowed to a complete stop. "I do so hope we meet again."

Seraphim took another step back and disappeared into the flames and smoke of the warehouse.

'Emperor damned Aura... ' Armis thought to himself in frustration. He had almost had to resort to using the true power of his gift.

"Armis!" Ruby called from the bullhead.

The red caped girl jumped down from the bullhead along with her team. And Goodwitch, to Armis' displeasure.

The woman in question walked purposefully up to Armis, and the two faced the other. Team RWBY held their breath, watching for any sign of confrontation. But out of nowhere, Glynda suddenly bowed her head.

"I'm sorry." She said, eyes to the ground. "Please could you return to Beacon."

Armis almost took a step back in surprise. "What?"

"I'm sorry. Could you please return to Beacon." Glynda glanced up at the cloaked man and continued. "I'm sorry for my behaviour since I met you. Revealing you to the teams may have been my duty, but it was not the right thing to do. I was not aware of your deal with Ozpin."

Over with the girls, a few paces away, they all exchanged bewildered looks.

"Is Miss Goodwitch… Apologising to Armis?" Yang asked.

"I think so, although I can hardly believe it." Weiss replied.

Blake just opened her mouth like a fish, ironically, and then just shut it again, speechless.

Armis was as shocked as the team and looked over to Ruby. She only smiled and waved at him.

'No help there.' Armis thought. 'Just go with it. You need to apologise to a few people yourself.'

Armis debated what his next action would be, he was honestly conflicted.

'Plus most of my gear is still in Beacon.'

That sealed the deal.

"Very well." Armis spoke up. "I accept you apology and will return to Beacon."

"Yay!" Ruby jumped into the air. "You can ride the bullhead with us!"

The group as a whole stared at her. Ruby suddenly realised she had said that outloud, and blushed red with embarassment.

"I mean if he wants to."

Armis could only sigh and shake his head.

* * *

Back in the warehouse, Seraphim had slung Mercury over her back and was leading Emerald by the hand out of the warehouse.

"You will tell no one of this." Mercury stated for the third time, and for the third time Seraphim ignored him.

Cinder stood to her left, hiding in the shadows, but Seraphim knew she was there. She looked to her rent armour and through that to the newer patch of skin, where her bone had split and burst out from her arm.

'Clever, Metzger. Truly a worthy opponent.' She thought to herself, as she tossed Mercury from her back.

"Hey!" Mercury complained as he hit the ground.

"Cinder, may you tend to your accomplices?" Seraphim asked to the shadows.

After a few seconds, Cinder obliged her, and strode up to Emerald with a sewing kit.

"Stay still Emerald." She told the green haired girl, before speaking to Seraphim again. "What happened?"

"I shall report to you the full details at a later date in a secure location, but first I would like to review our agreement."

"Oh?" Cinders eyes flashed with fire threateningly.

"I will serve you, without payment."

"Oh?" Cinder repeated, more confused this time.

"On one condition." Seraphim continued.

Cinder nodded. "Go on."

"You will arrange a duel between myself and the man who attacked us today, Metzger."

Cinder smiled a sinister smile. "I believe I have just the thing for you."

Seraphim nodded her thanks and allowed Cinder to continued her work. She became lost in her thoughts, replaying her fight with the mysterious Metzger. She smiled to herself in contentment as she remembered how Metzger had used her own momentum and her own aura to break her arm.

'I finally have a challenge. Someone worthy enough to fight me. I have not been wounded in such a way for so long now. This Metzger. The first one to wound me in over two hundred years.'

* * *

 _ **Armis returns too Beacon having spent two days terrorising Vale's criminals, and becoming a famous, or infamous, celebrity at the same time. But just who is Seraphim, and just how strong is she?**_

 _ **I am likely to be doing a time skip after the next chapter to the Vytal Festival. I do have a few more loose ends to tie up in the next chapter, but if you have been watching RWBY then you know that the Vytal festival is where all the good stuff happens. But please, if anyone has any suggestions for events that need to happen before the Festival, feel free to suggest something.**_

 _ **I already have a meeting between Penny, Ruby and Armis in the works. You can imagine how that will turn out.**_

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: With the destruction of one of the White Fang's bases of operation in Vale and the encounter with the mysterious Seraphim, Armis returns to Beacon, having made peace with himself after Ruby's 'mistake.'**_

 _ **Grenadier 658244: Thanks alot. Glad you're enjoying it. But no she isn't.**_

 _ **Warwolf82: No. Seraphim isn't from 40k. She is an OC from Remnant.**_

 _ **Emperor KingPerby: Thanks m8. Your Gr8!**_

 _ **Nemris: True, but no one at beacon has seen him kill those people... yet. Ozpin knows that, while he is dangerous, Armis has humanity's best interests at heart. If he kicked him out of Beacon, then who knows what trouble Armis could start. It's far safer to keep him in Beacon where Ozpin can watch him.**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

The ride back to Beacon was short and silent. The sun had begun to rise over the horizon as the bullhead began to approach the academy grounds. Most of the passengers had used this time to grab some sleep, namely Glynda Goodwitch who was snoring away in the corner of the passenger bay. Ruby however was sitting opposite Armis, awkwardly sending glances his way while trying to keep her hands busy by cleaning the Crescent rose. The many-armed man himself was taking his time properly stitching the wound in his shoulder, while at the same time stitching the cut in his cloak. He hoped that he could find some time to relax and recuperate in Beacon. It was quite unnerving for Ruby, as Armis still had his face hidden under his hood, and she could only see a pair of red glowing eyes peering out from the dark. It bore an unsettling resemblance to grimm.

'Wait red eyes?' Ruby thought. 'Armis had just regular brown ones when I first met him, and all the time after that.'

"Armis? Why are your eyes red?"

The hooded boy turned those eyes upon Ruby, his hands not slowing their work. Ruby flinched a little from the sheer intimidation factor of Armis' eyes. Armis cocked his head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

Ruby cocked her head in return. "I mean why are your eyes red? They weren't like that before!"

Armis slowly nodded. "Yes…" He seemed to agree hesitantly. "I wear contact lenses over my eyes. They serve to disguise my appearance and they have some use for fear tactics."

'You've got that right.' Ruby thought. Armis truly did look terrifying just sitting there cloaked and hooded. Like a hidden grimm ready to strike. If Ruby couldn't see his arms moving to stitch both his cloak and his skin back together, she would have thought he _was_ a grimm.

"Does that hurt?" Ruby asked again, indicating to where Armis gracefully knitted his own flesh together. Once again Ruby flinched slightly as she saw the skin and tissue part and contract as Armis pulled the thread tight.

"Yes."

"Errr… Do you want any help?" Ruby asked, tapping her index fingers together repeatedly, in embarrassment.

Armis paused and then chuckled. Even a single laugh broke out from the hood. "Thank you for asking, but I think we can both agree that I have hands to spare."

It took Ruby a moment to realise that Armis was making a joke. Blinking in surprise, she soon joined him in quiet laughter, a smile on both of their faces.

A few seconds of contentment followed in the silence over the bullhead's engines.

'What the hell was that?' Armis thought, frowning under his hood. 'Since when did he make jokes? About his own body no less.'

This had never happened to Armis before and underneath his hood, his features twisted into a frown of contemplation. He felt… comfortable talking to Ruby about himself and he had to admit that making her smile felt good. Satisfying even. The rest of the journey was spent in more silence, although to Ruby, the atmosphere wasn't so foreboding anymore. Armis however, didn't know what to think, his thoughts too convoluted to focus on anything but repairing himself and his cloak. Arguably the same thing.

* * *

Having returned to Beacon with Glynda Goodwitch and Team RWBY in tow, Armis had been immediately summoned to the headmaster's office. He bid a swift, and blunt, farewell to his accomplices and immediately headed to the elevator leading to the tower. Despite Ruby's protests. She was quickly dragged away by her team. A whisper fight ensued as Armis walked away, the contents of which eluded him. Whatever they had said seemed to appease the small girl and she dashed off in the opposite direction, followed by Weiss who had drawn her rapier.

After a short elevator ride, he stepped out into Ozpin's office. Armis looked around and noted that it looked a lot messier than it had been when he had previously been here. Several scrolls lay upon the table, as well as the odd stack of paperwork. Several sheets had slipped from the floor and now lay upon the table. Ozpin, who as usual sat at his desk, looked surprisingly... flustered, if the headmaster could ever look as such. But it was immediately crushed by a stern face of professionalism, the moment Armis grew closer to his desk.

'Strange...' Armis thought, but he dismissed the occurrence just as quickly as his 'supposed' superior.

"Ozpin."

"Armis. We have a few very important matters to discuss."

Armis remained silent. He would allow Ozpin the right to direct this conversation for now.

Ozpin continued. "Firstly there is the matter of why you fled the school and did not return for almost three days. Breaking yet another of my windows in the process."

Armis shrugged. "If you require compensation then-"

"Do not avoid the real question Armis."

"Apologies." Armis sighed. 'It couldn't be helped.' He thought, before reluctantly continuing. "My emotions got the better of me and I choose the only option I believed was open to me. I see now that I was wrong and it shall never happen again."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, that motioned for Armis to continue.

"I assume you know already what happened?" Armis asked.

"I understand the situation, but not your feelings. I have already spoken to Ruby and her feelings on the matter."

"Oh?" Armis asked with mock curiosity. Inside his anger unwillingly began to boil, paranoid thoughts running rampant. 'Who did she tell? How many knew? Was the incident planned?"

"She was very embarrassed with the entire ordeal and continually asked for a chance to go out and find you. In fact..." Ozpin indicated to a stack of a dozen or so sheets of paper on his desk. "She spent a large amount of time blitzing round the school looking for you. These here are complaints of rose petals lining the hallways and filling classrooms."

Armis blinked in surprise. 'She... Went looking for me?'

"So what exactly happened? I know she intruded into the showers and brought about the awkwardness that 'that' brings. But I don't know why you reacted so... Spontaneously."

The dots connected in Armis' mind.

'She hadn't told anyone.' Armis thought in both surprise and relief. He coughed and then spoke directly to Ozpin. "That is none of your business. Let's say that I am a very private individual who does not like being seen. At all."

Ozpin nodded, but a thought seemed to cross his mind and his eyes narrowed.

"Is Ruby Rose in any danger from you?" Ozpin questioned, his voice leaving no room for deceit.

Armis considered this query. In any other circumstance, anyone who had seen him, other than the inquisitor and his retinue, he would have hunted down and killed. And even the inquisitorial retinue had no protection if they intruded on Armis' privacy. Ruby had committed the most grievous intrusion, yet now that Armis thought clearly, he could see no reason to fault her. It was accidental for starters, she had no malicious intent. She had then spent the next two days searching for him and had actually found him in the end, simply to apologise for her mistake. And most importantly she had kept his appearance to herself.

Armis chuckled to himself. 'Truly 'Honesty' suits her.' He looked back to the headmaster. "No. She is not. Barring yourself, Ruby is the only other person here who has my respect. I shall make no move against one who has shown such respect and trust back to me."

He heard a quiet sigh of relief. His instincts instantly put him on alert. Ozpin hadn't sighed. Nor had the sound came from so close. Outwardly, he didn't react, but his eyes scanned the room. Four pillars were the only places for a person to fully hide themselves, two of which were out of his line of sight. Before he made a move, he needed to have some idea of who they were and more importantly where they were. Armis suddenly noticed how calm Ozpin seemed. Too calm. He should have noticed this as well. Ozpin swept his foot out to the side and then back behind his desk.

'Swift and cunning.' Armis thought. 'Not swift enough.'

The headmaster had tried to sweep something out of his sight, behind the desks leg. And that something was a red rose petal.

'Emperor damn it Ruby.' Armis thought.

"The second thing I want to know is what have you been doing in Vale the past few days." Ozpin continued, apparently oblivious of Ruby's presence, or the fact that Armis had caught on.

'Does he want me to say something for Ruby's benefit?' Armis wondered, before playing along. "I needed time to clear my head. I happened to run into the abhuman terrorist group known as the White Fang in the process."

Ozpin nodded and grunted disbelieving confirmation. "And how did that go."

"They seem to be trying to hide their activities behind standard criminals and thugs, covering their operations by using hired muscle. They also seem to be under the command of a small group of human leaders. I do not know who they are, but I believe they are in Vale and they are plotting something big."

Ozpin's eyes flashed in interest and he nodded for Armis to continue.

Armis smiled. He hadn't been expecting that. Now for the finishing touch.

"I also heard rumours that a kidnap attempt would be made on one Blake Belladonna. A traitor in their ranks. She would then be beheaded on camera and the video released to the public."

Ozpin gasped. And so did someone else. Behind the pillar to Armis' right.

'Got you.'

* * *

Ruby gasped at the news Armis had presented to Ozpin. She had been able to sneak up into the clock tower with the help of Weiss. The white ice queen had placed a line of black glyphs up the clock tower and Ruby had blitzed up into the clock tower with her semblance. After confronting Ozpin, who wasn't very happy with all of his files being sent to the floor and his study being littered with rose petals, she was dismissed behind one of the rooms four pillars to hide. However as she heard the elevator reaching the top floor, she realised that all of the petals strewn across the floor would expose her presence. In a panic, her semblance had activated and she cleaned the entire room quickly, fast enough so that even the freshly made petals were caught and stuffed into her cloak. Ruby hoped that she had got all of them.

She now hid from Armis, holding her cloak out like a cloth, all of the rose petals contained within, threatening to overflow.

Scenarios ran through her head; 'How can she protect Blake? Should she go into hiding? Perhaps strike first or maybe set a trap? Maybe Armis would have an idea.'

Ruby shook that last idea off. Asking Armis meant admitting that she was spying on him. As she debated with herself, she suddenly realised how quiet the room had got. Ozpin hadn't replied. She slowly leant past the pillar that covered her, cautious not to expose herself. At Ozpin's desk was the headmaster, who was looking directly at her and shaking his head, not in disappointment, but in mirth. But Armis was nowhere to be seen.

Ruby slowly turned around, expecting Armis to be behind her. But again there was no one. 'If Armis isn't in front of me… and if Armis isn't behind me… then…" Ruby thought, before she realised her mistake. Ruby felt a small breeze from displaced air across her head, and she heard a whisper against her ear.

"Boo."

Ruby shrieked and threw her arms in the air, instinctively trying to protect herself, while backpedalling. Unfortunately, she had previously been holding a cloak full of petals. The sudden motion and shift in weight caused her to fall backwards onto her backside, petals flying into the air, falling down to cover her up to her knees. Armis jumped down from hanging upside down vertically on the pillar and stood above her. Still clad in his trademark swirling black cloak, Ruby dreaded what punishment those red eyes had in mind, for someone spying on him. Another silence dragged on for what seemed like an hour, before Armis' hood tilted back and the sound of laughter poured forth. Loud and bellowing laughter. Ruby tried to stand, but only slipped on the covered floor, resulting in both covering herself more completely in red petals and amusing Armis further. His body began to shake and the cloak slipped to the side as a pair of his arms wrapped around his stomach. His head tilted back further and the shaking pulled back the hood, revealing his face again.

Ruby couldn't say that she was happy with her situation, but she couldn't hold back and began to chuckle and laugh alongside Armis. He looked so happy all of a sudden. When Ruby had actually seen him without the hood, he always seemed so… distant. Even when he seemed to smile before he had disappeared, there was always something behind it that was so negative. The mad laughter when he fought her seemed hollow compared to this laughter, the cocky smirk he showed Yang paled in comparison to how he smiled on the ride back to Beacon.

"You big meanie!" Ruby shouted, jumping up and beating her fists against Armis' chest.

Armis continued to laugh, but managed to contain himself. After Ruby ended her barrage, she stood before him pouting, dragging her own hood over her head in embarrassment.

"That was a lie by the way. Blake is known to the White Fang, but there is no immediate threat to her. Especially when she has companions of such strength." Armis told Ruby, who looked relieved at the news, but was still annoyed with Armis. "I have underestimated you again. Not many can hide themselves in such a manner. Timing your breaths to match that of your headmasters, limiting your movement. Impressive. Only your emotions gave you away."

Armis gave one last chuckle before patting Ruby's head and walking back to Ozpin.

"Is there anything else you need sir?" He asked.

The headmaster only smiled. "No. All my questions have been answered. You are dismissed. Both of you." Ozpin said, nodding to Ruby.

"Yes sir." She replied. "Sorry about your office."

"No need to apologise, Miss Rose. Run along now."

* * *

"Why did you hide yourself in Ozpin's office?" Armis asked as the two waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor.

Ruby took a great interest in the hem of her dress and wouldn't meet Armis' gaze.

"I wanted to know what you had been doing, when you left and I needed to apologise for what I did." Ruby quickly looked up at Armis and presented her apologetic puppy eyes at him. "I'm really really really sorry! I didn't mean to do that, I just wasn't thinking."

"Apology accepted. Just… Don't let it happen again."

"Definitely. Won't ever happen again!" Ruby quickly nodded. "So what happened in that warehouse? That woman was really scary."

The elevator pinged and opened, allowing the pair to exit and head towards the dorm rooms. Armis aimed to drop Ruby back off at her room and then find his own, the one Ozpin had prepared.

"White Fang were using it as a base of operations. I destroyed the facility and eliminated those who were there, but two hunters arrived. They must have believed me to be someone else and attacked me. Then that woman got involved. I have no information on who she was, but she didn't seem like anyone from Vale. And then you arrived." Armis regurgitated the order of events, missing out specific details, such as him being Metzger or the slaughter of the warehouse guards.

"Wow!" Ruby said with awe. "You went on, like a full undercover mission or something. My team has only been on one official mission so far and that… didn't go so well. Grimm got unleashed on the city."

As they reached the stairs to the dorms, Armis looked to Ruby who seemed a little downtrodden at her team's failure.

"How many casualties were there?" Armis asked solemnly. He knew the toll it could take on a new recruit, when they saw how much death had resulted from a single mistake. The guilt that weighed upon their soul.

Ruby blinked surprised at the question. "Errrm… none I think. Maybe a few injured."

Armis stopped in his tracks and blinked back at Ruby, equally surprised. "Did the grimm get away?" He asked.

Ruby suddenly realized that Armis had stopped and awkwardly span around to face him. "No… We killed them all at the breach"

"What about the one responsible for the attack? Did he escape?"

"No. We caught him and he's held captive by Atlas."

Armis laughed and continued to walk.

"What? What's so funny?" Ruby asked, following him.

"You and I have very different views on what 'didn't go so well' means."

* * *

Ruby and Armis reached Team RWBY's dorm, room number C3. After quickly knocking, Yang opened the door and looked to Ruby with joy in her eyes.

"Ruby! You're not dead!" She shouted, before her eyes lost their enthusiasm as she saw who stood next to her. "Armis."

"Yang." Armis replied, looking through the door. "Blake. Weiss."

"Hello."

"Greetings."

Armis and Ruby entered the room, Ruby sitting on Weiss' bed, while everyone else took their normal positions. Armis remained standing, arms crossed underneath his cloak. There was a moment of awkward silence before Ruby quickly found something to talk about.

"Oh yeah! Ozpin told me to give you this." Ruby told Armis, handing him a sealed letter.

"And this is..?"

"The room in which you will be staying. Can't have you sleeping here the rest of the year can we?"

There were looks of relief going round the room. Except for Ruby, who seemed to disagree with the very words she was saying.

"Thank you." Armis said, ripping open the letter.

He had forgotten to ask Ozpin which room he would be staying in. The letter contained a plastic card and a key ring with a single key attached. Armis froze as he saw the single letter and single number written on the plastic card.

"That sly bastard…" Armis whispered to himself.

The rest of the team noticed his dismay.

"What was that?" Ruby asked curiously. "What's wrong?"

Blake walked up to Armis and took the card from his hand. She froze just as Armis had and then put a hand to her face.

"Well? Tell us!" Yang said impatiently.

Blake flipped over the card for Yang, Ruby and Weiss to see.

C4.

A few seconds passed.

"Wait…" Yang started.

"Isnt that..?" Weiss continued.

"Next door." Blake finished with a groan.

It was followed by two additional groans.

"Yay!" Ruby shouted jumping in the air.

Her expression soon turned to embarrassment as the remaining four in the room, including Armis looked at her as though she had grown a second head.

"I mean awwww." She faked displeasure, but then stopped herself, as she looked at Armis, to her teammates, to Armis. "I mean… that's…. definitely not bad so to say…"

Armis sighed. "Where's my gear?"

Blake frowned. "I thought you took it?"

"No? Lest you forget, I left in quite a hurry. So where is it?" Armis asked.

"Well it was here when we left to go get you." Ruby added, helpfully.

"And now it's just gone?" Armis asked. "Imperial munitions don't just grow legs and walk off. Well they can, but that is the result of warp interference and…" He noticed the team looking at him, confused looks on their faces. "Never mind. But my point still stands! So where is my-"

There was a large crashing sound from across the hallway, and a girlish scream.

"Nora! I don't think you should do-"

FASHOOM!

Armis instantly recognised that sound.

"Ah shit."

* * *

Kicking Team RWBY's door open, Armis looked to the door opposite him. And straight through to a panicking Nora. A large circular hole had been burnt through the wood and it only continued to widen, as blue flames devoured the material, pops and whizzes going off as sparks flew from the door frame. Nora, the ginger haired hyperactive girl from Team JNPR, aka the hammer girl, held a large rifle in both hands, angular, large and crude. The short barrel was surrounded by a ventilation casing, which had exhaust slits running vertically along its length. No ammunition magazine could be seen apart from a small, in comparison to the weapon, capsule next to the grip and trigger. A second identical capsule was located on a diagonal slope at the back end of the gun, in front of the stock.

The problem however was, what Armis knew as, the magnetic accelerator coils and the plasma capacitor. They ran along the top of the weapon, and made up the bulk of it. And they were glowing a brighter and brighter shade of blue by the second. Strangely coloured blue-ish smoke was pouring from the exhaust ports and the entire weapon was shaking, Nora's hands struggling to hold the weapon. Small crackles of electricity were shooting out of the weapon, and one struck across Nora's hand. She yelped in pain and to Armis' horror, she dropped the gun up into the air.

'No no no no no! Machine God please no!' Armis internally screamed, as the weapon fell to earth.

Armis leapt through the melted hole in the doorway, the heat and stink of plasma washing over him, scolding his cloak. He briefly noticed, Ren over in the corner standing next to his opened crate of equipment, but he ignored it. His arms outstretched he focused all of his effort on the overloading plasma gun. Time seemed to slow as Armis realised he would be too late. It was falling too fast and he had reacted too late. He had never imagined dying like this. From the stupidity of teenagers. He should have heeded the Magos advice and locked the crate every time he left it somewhere. But, in his own better judgment, he had always left it unlocked, reasoning that in an emergency, the seconds wasted unlocking the damn thing could be the seconds between life and death. Armis could only hope that his own body would absorb most of the blast, so that Ruby would have the Aura to survive the ensuing explosion. Oh and her team.

Armis collapsed on his stomach and waited for the inevitable. He wasted a precious second before looking up to see Ruby standing over him, holding the glowing weapon out to him.

"Here!" She shouted at him, over the whirring and hissing sound of the plasma weapon.

'Speak of the devil…'

Armis grabbed the weapon and held it off the floor with a pair of hands, while pushing himself off the ground into a kneeling position with another set of hands. Four hands went over the gun, including his two metal talons, and began tweaking and checking the settings and diagnostics.

"Oils, candles, matches. In the crate. Go!" He shouted to Ruby, who was standing by his side looking worried.

She didn't question and immediately blurred to the other side of the room, past a stunned Ren and dug through Armis' equipment procuring the specified items. She shot back to Armis, holding a pair of candles, three containers of oil and a box of matches with weird script labelling. Armis quickly grabbed the oils and popped them open, pouring a small amount onto a small cloth he had taken from within the folds of his cloak. It was at this point Ruby had begun to question what she was doing.

'Why the hell did he ask for candles and oil?'

"Light the incense and place it on the floor, under the weapon." Armis continued.

"W… What?" Ruby stuttered.

Armis turned to her, his eyes still red and glared at her, completely serious. "Light the candles damn it!"

"Ah okay!" Ruby replied, and shakily struck the match and lit both of the candles.

The smell of machinery, oil and smoke filled the room, and Ruby had to stop herself from coughing and dropping the candles, as she placed them underneath the weapon Armis was holding. He had begun to chant something as he wiped oil across the gun's metal surface. Ruby took a step back and observed the process. Whatever he was doing it seemed to be working. The gun was no longer shaking and the bright blue glow of the radiator at the top of the gun seemed to be dying down. He was kneeling down and was almost praying. Worshipping the gun. Which Ruby could totally understand, but she hadn't imagined anything like this happening. Ruby tried listening to the speech Armis was giving the weapon.

" _May my weapon be guarded against malfunction,_

 _As my soul is guarded from impurity._

 _May the Machine God watch over me,_

 _So to unleash the weapons of war, the Deathdealer._

 _May the Omnissiah permit me to use your flames,_

 _Oh sacred Machine Spirit._

 _And wield your fury against the enemies of mankind,_

 _While protecting my allies from your wrath."_

Silence fell upon the room as the humming fell silent and the blue glow faded from view.

"For the Emperor." Armis finished, getting too his feet.

He carried the plasma gun, slowly, carefully, like a fallen comrade, over to the equipment box. Boxes of ammunition and individual shells lay upon one of the beds, as well as strew across the room. All of the shelves that had once filled the crate were gone and likely somewhere in the room. Armis saw the opened safety case at the bottom of the crate and gently lowered the plasma gun down. He placed it in the correct position and shut the case, as well as placing back the oil containers.

The silence dragged on for a while more before Nora had the great idea to start talking.

"Well glad that's over!" She said with a smile. "Glad no one got hurt."

"Nora…" Ren warned, noticing the sudden drop in temperature in the room, and the feeling of pulsing hatred emanating from Armis, who was gripping the sides of the crate, his knuckles turning white.

"That was weird wasn't it? Did anyone else think that was weird?" She turned to the entrance, asking the rest of Team RWBY who were peeking in through the door. They were looking through the doorway with mouths open, shocked over the entire ordeal.

Armis turned and walked towards Nora, his face dark and unchanging, eyes burning with rage. Ren and team RWBY seemed to notice, but not Nora.

"Nora! You need to stop talking now!" Ren tried to tell his friend more forcefully.

"What? It's not like anyone got hurt? Well the door got busted, but Ozpin can fix that." She smiled, oblivious to the towering figure behind her. "We'll be joking about this later."

Nora heard a series of strange clicking and crunching noises behind her and noticed that Blake, Yang and Weiss were now gawking at something else behind her.

"What?" Nora wondered aloud and turned to see what was behind her. "What's-"

CRUNCH

A large fist came crashing into her turning face and sent her falling down flat onto the floor on her back. She was lucky that her Aura partially activated when she just noticed the attack, for a millisecond, before it struck her. She looked up from the floor, so surprised at the speed in which she had been dropped, that she couldn't move. Armis stood above her, cloak folded back, revealing his black body glove and arms. Two arms. All bundled into one. He was gritting his teeth and had his fist clenched. No one in the room had seen Armis so angry.

"You think this is a joke!" Armis roared, his fury completely directed at Nora. "Do you have any idea of the destruction you could have caused with your stupidity?"

Nora was stunned into silence. Armis took a step forward and reached down grabbing Nora by the collar and effortlessly lifting her into the air, bringing her face to face.

Ren shook himself out of his stupor and tried moving closer to the conflict to intervene, ever the peacekeeper. Armis quickly snapped around, Nora still clutched in one hand, the other pointing at Ren.

"Back off you Savlar gak! You are just as guilty as she is." His red eyes burned into Ren's own, locking him in place.

He returned to the suspended Nora.

"Well?" Armis shouted into her face. "Do you?"

"N-no." Spluttered Nora, who could only answer truthfully.

Armis growled in disgust, and threw Nora away from him. She landed on the floor with a thump, into a sitting position. Armis still stood above her and bore down upon her accusingly.

"If Ruby hadn't caught that weapon, or I hadn't been just outside that door..." Armis started with a low growl. "The resulting explosion would have vaporised everything in this room."

Armis snapped his fingers loudly, the sound echoing in the silence of the room and made Nora flinch.

"Just like that. And then it would have destroyed all the rooms adjacent to this one, starting..." Armis pointed out the door at Team RWBY. "With them. And it wouldn't be slow. Oh no, do you see what happened to the door? Imagine that slow blue fire burning across your skin, melting through your flesh and turning your bones to ash!"

Armis' voice had steadily increased in volume and Nora was starting to shake, her eyes tearing up.

"And it would be your fault! You would be the one solely responsible for the death of your friends and fellow students. All because you couldn't contain your curiosity. Your boredom!" Armis seemed to be wearing himself out from the shouting and his voice became a harsh whisper, but still audible in the small room. "How do you expect to fight Grimm and the other, far greater horrors out there, if you're so damn naive!?"

Silence once again consumed the room, apart from a few quiet sobs from Nora. Ruby was holding her breath. There were so many sides to Armis. This was just another one, she realised. There was so much emotion locked away inside him and it seemed that only now was it being released.

"I wonder which pistol I shall give you..."

Ruby gasped upon hearing that whisper. 'Did Armis really say that? He wouldn't would he?' She couldn't tell or answer either of those questions.

She looked around the room and saw that no one else was reacting. But she did see one of Armis' arms reaching into his cloak. Ruby suddenly shot forward into action. She blurred around the room, faster and faster, perhaps faster than she had ever gone before, her comrades barely registering that she was there at all. In barely a second, she had searched the entire room and gathered every bullet, every box of ammunition and discarded object and placed them into Armis' crate. Exactly where they were supposed to be. The room cleared, she ran up to Armis and tugged on his cloak.

"Ok Armis..." Ruby hurriedly said. "You've made your point. You're really, _really_ scary. Now could we please go? Everything is in your crate."

Armis looked down at her. For a moment Ruby believed that it hadn't worked. But Armis soon turned around, grabbing the box with both hands and hefted it onto his shoulder. As he went to walk out, he stopped and shot another look of disgust at Nora, who was quietly crying next to her bed, tears slowly falling down her face. Armis knelt down close to her, keeping balance despite the large crate perched in his shoulder.

"Today, you killed six people in my eyes. So from now on you better prove your worth and earn back those lives, because right now?" Armis' eyes stared into Nora's, whispering so that only she could hear. "Your less than worthless."

Armis leaned in closer, so close their noses almost met. Nora felt an itching at the back of her mind and she saw his eyes glaze over.

"You. Are. Nothing."

The words embedded themselves into Nora's memories and fresh tears poured down her face, the true extent of her actions revealing themselves to her, through Armis' eyes. Armis stood and pushed open the door, the flames that had been eating the wood now dead, leaving only embers. Ruby followed him out, giving Nora a apologetic look and mouthing the words 'sorry.'

Team RWBY tried following Armis, but he went into his room and shut the door.

"Leave me be." Were his last words.

They then tried to get back into Team JNPR's room, but Ren was waiting for them, shaking his head. Whatever he and Nora had discussed, he told them that Nora wanted to be left alone. With no option but to stay out of it for now, Ren and Team RWBY left to find Jaune and Pyrrah and tell them what had transpired.

LINE BREAK

Nora was curled up in bed and crying into her pillow. Crying out in sorrow and guilt.

'Stupid, silly, careless Nora.' She thought to herself.

That's all she would be to anyone. Clumsy Nora. Clueless Nora. She had never really thought about it until now. Until Armis had done something and it all flashed before her eyes and came crashing down upon her like a freight train. All the times she had caused a scene. All the times she had dragged Ren or her team into trouble.

Especially Ren. Who had only ever been good to her. And what had she done in return? Held him back. They had been late to the huntsman and huntress academy trials and the only reason they had arrived in the first place was because Ren had been able to get her there. Every time they had fought together, there was always that one Grimm who she carelessly ignored. Ren would always be there to defend her, but every so often he would take the hit for her, while she just ignored his misery and laughed it off. She was a terrible friend. Nora turned over on the bed and hugged herself tighter.

A bright glint on the floor however, caught her eye. Wiping her eyes of tears, she got out of bed and picked the shining object up. It was a bullet. A large one at that. Short but wide. Nora looked around the room. It was where she had moved the bed from its normal place. She had lifted it off the ground and used it to cover the door, to afford her some privacy since she had blown a smoking hole in it. She took the bullet and sat down on her bed, turning the bullet over in her hands. There was something etched into the round. Six tally marks. One for every kill. Another tear went down her face, but she stopped sobbing as she read the following text.

Prove your worth. Earn their lives.

Nora clutched the bullet in her hand, covering the markings. Fire and determination burnt within her eyes. She would prove herself. To her team. To her friends. To Armis. To Ren. Nora wiped all the tears away and took a deep breath. She pocketed the bullet and stood from the bed. She would show them just how worthy she truly was. Now all she needed, was her hammer.

* * *

 _ **Returning to Beacon may not have had the exact effect that Armis would have liked. But it seems that he has shocked Nora out of her childish ways. Just how will this affect the future? And the swiftly approaching Vytal festival.**_

 _ **I was a bit disappointed with this chapter. After such a long break from writing this story I may have lost some drive I had to write it. Doesn't seem to flow right and I didn't cover everything I wanted to write about. I'm still going to continue writing this story, but not sure how long it will take for me to write the next chapter.**_

 _ **I was also wanting people's opinion on using things like 'BOOM!' or 'THUD THUD THUD' to describe sounds in stories. I've used some in this chapter and sometimes it seems the best way to describe something. But other times it seems childish and I guess you could say unprofessional. Any suggestions?**_

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: With Armis**_ ** _returning to Beacon after the encounter with the White Fang, things have returned to normal. Relitively speaking. Practice continues ever onwards and the Vytal Festival approaches._**

 _ **Nox Eterna: It was not the inherent kinetic energy or force that broke Seraphim's arm. In fact it was her own Aura that broke her arm. From watching RWBY episodes, my (completely debatable) view on Aura is that it can carry momentum. So if you're punched, you may not take physical damage but you will recoil. What I tried to portray Armis doing is using the momentum generated by punching the joint in her arm with six fists and pulling in the opposite direction with his other hands, to force her aura, not to break, but to move, so that it forces her arm into a position where, essentially, her aura breaks her own arm. On the other point on temperature, this could also be true, and its a matter of opinion but again, going off the world of RWBY, Aura seems to protect the user against fire based attacks, such as when Ruby falls into a larva jet. Her aura is depleted, but she is unharmed. Otherwise everyone would use fire dust weapons because they would circumvent Aura. Thanks a lot for the review, it really got me thinking. Try not to judge me too harshly. It's Warhammer 40k and RWBY. Physics kind of goes out the window at this point.**_

 _ **Nemris: Thanks for the advice. The building was completely on fire at that point, so no one entered the building and saw the bodies. But even if say Ozpin found out about Metzger's exploits, (And he probably does) what should he do? If he expelled Armis or tried to capture him and he escapes, what sort of damage could he cause, especially if someone such as Cinder hires him again. Imagine Sangur in the same position. I know he has Nox looking after him, but imagine what would happen if he was unleashed on Vale. Thats my thinking behind Ozpin keeping Armis in Beacon.**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

Days turned to weeks, and the Vytal Festival loomed ever closer. Teams RWBY and JNPR spent most of their days practicing together for the tournament and the rest of the time recovering from trying to beat the reigning champion of the arena. Armis himself. The cloaked man took part in matches from time to time and won every match he fought, despite having no Aura. He seemed to know exactly what his opponent was capable of and no longer made any mistakes, like in previous battles, or underestimate any of the students. He seemed to make each fight appear an equal match, and then win out of nowhere. Like he was testing the students, but couldn't bring himself to look too bad. Ruby's previous fight had been by far the closest the teams had seen to Armis losing, but a few others had come close. Pyrrha was next, followed closely by Yang, Nora and Ren.

Nora had really upped her game recently. After the debacle with Armis' weapons cache, Nora, while sometimes still as childish as always, when it came to something important, in this case the Vytal festival training sessions, she became almost professional. Being the first to lessons, answering questions from teachers, fighting seriously. Although that may seem trivial, it was a humongous change for Nora. And Ren for that matter.

However there were times when Armis didn't show up for the daily arena matches. When he didn't show, it seemed like he had disappeared from the face of the planet. Although most of the students didn't seem to mind, every time Armis didn't attend the training lesson, Ruby and Glynda exchanged knowing glances. He was somewhere in Vale taking the fight to the White Fang. Rumour of the Metzger killer's exploits spread like wildfire and crime had reached an all time low. Very few people now complained about the vigilante supposedly at large, whether this was out of fear or belief in his cause, nobody could tell. Once, Ruby had caught Armis returning to Beacon and tried to interrogate him. That had gone about as well as she could have hoped.

"I was in Vale, Ozpin's orders." Was all he had to say for himself, before taking the elevator alone to Ozpin's office.

To the others, Armis had become a figure of mystery and awe. And of competition. There was a betting pool that had started to see who could beat Armis first. To start with, it had just been a friendly bet. For bragging rights, nothing more. But now it had become something else. Surprisingly, it was Ren who bet Nora a stack of pancakes that she couldn't beat Armis by the time the Vytal festival came around. Nora had taken up this challenge with relish, even more so than normal. Then more bets were flung around the room, when Armis wasn't present of course. Everything from homework assignments and chores to massages and other such favours. Betting with money was frowned upon, but the two wealthiest of the group, Weiss and Pyrrha had wagered a substantial sum against one another.

* * *

And so it began. Until everyone had put something into the pool, everyone had something at stake. And so as Armis walked into the arena once more, the room went quiet. He paused as he reached the steps, curious to why everyone was staring at him. Armis was of course, still in his cloak, although he had been wearing his hood down more often recently.

"Is something wrong?" He asked up to the students on the podium.

Everyone looked at one another and whispers ensued between the teams, to Armis' bewilderment. A minute passed and Ruby looked like she was about to speak. But Nora shouted out, beating her to the punch.

"We want to have a marathon fighting session. Battle Royale. With you." She grinned slamming her fists together.

Armis looked at her, cocking his head, and then to Ruby and the rest of the teams. "I am unfamiliar with the term Battle Royale. I assume someone wants to spar with me."

Nora's smile grew larger. "Yeah, someone definitely wants to spar with ya!"

She laid out the rules to Armis, with some help from her teammates when she didn't make much sense. There is only so much sense that can be made from the phrase; "And then when the next person is smashed, I jump in." Essentially, Armis would have to fight each of the students from Team JNPR and RWBY one at a time. If someone was defeated, then another person would enter the arena and fight with Armis. And the process was repeated, until all the students had been beaten, or Armis had been defeated.

Armis nodded his head in understanding and looked around the room, starting to make his way to the centre of the arena.

"So who's first?" He called.

There was a small pause as once again, the teams devolved into a whisper battle. Jaune was the first to step up, or technically speaking, step down into the arena. A round of cheers echoed through the room, which Jaune waved his hands at dismissively.

"Yeah yeah, you all know why I'm first, let's get this over with." He sighed.

Armis smiled at his first victim- *cough cough* opponent. The starting bell rung and the match begun.

"My apologies." Armis spoke as Jaune readied himself, shield in front and sword raised.

"For wha-" Jaune started before Armis jumped forwards and grabbed his shield with two hands and wrenched it out of his grip. "Oh. That's why…"

Armis swung the shield outwards and the flat side of the metal connected full force with Jaune. The blonde haired boy was sent flying out of the arena and into the stands. All of the students scattered, except for Pyrrha, who heroically caught Jaune in her arms, holding him in a bridal position.

"Ow…" Jaune horsely whispered, with half a concussion.

Pyrrha looked down at Jaune and then blushed madly as Yang let out a catcall. She quickly set him against the stairs, her face turning serious. Ren noticed and shook his head.

"Not again." He moaned.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked. "May I borrow your shield?"

"What?" Jaune mumbled before shaking his head around and understanding. "Yeah sure."

Armis threw the shield, like a frisbee, straight at Pyrrha, who caught it, drawing her short sword as well. She jumped into the arena and took up a battle stance similar to Jaune's.

The bell rang again, and Pyrrha instantly dropped to one knee, changing her sword into a rifle and holding Jaune's shield up, so to rest her gun on top of it. Armis was in motion the moment she opened fire. Bullets bounced and ricocheted around him, but nothing seemed to pierce that flowing cloak. Armis himself opened fire from within the darkness that surrounded him, multiple flashes and explosions lighting up the arena. Bullets slammed into the shield one after the other and Pyrrha dug her heels in, forced back an inch by the sheer weight of incoming projectiles. As the barrage ended, Pyrrha switched her rifle back into a sword and charged. Armis stopped moving and dug out another pistol. Pyrrha mistook it for a piece of his usual weaponry and acted accordingly holding her shield high.

The pistol was larger than his usual bolt pistols and was similar in design to the plasma gun. A large radiator-like block ran along the top of the gun. Except instead of being integrated into the main weapon, this one seemed to be bolted to the top of the pistol. A thick wire sprouted from the back and coiled downwards, linking to the weapons trigger mechanism. A revolving cylinder hung beneath the gun, similar to that of a revolver.

Armis pulled the trigger, sending the cylinder spinning, and a huge bolt of blue lightning shooting out from the barrel. The lightning bolt instantly crossed the distance between the two combatants and struck the shield. Arcs of electricity flowed through the metal conductor and electrified Pyrrha, who let out a high-pitched wail, her body spasming and twitching. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell backwards, unconscious.

Mouths open wide, the crowd were once again stunned. This wasn't like previous fights, Armis wasn't messing around. The Aura board read only a slight dip into the orange for Pyrrha. She had been knocked unconscious without her aura breaking.

"What the hell is that?" Ruby shouted, half in concern for Pyrrha, half in awe of this new technology Armis wielded.

Armis turned the gun on its side, displaying it to the crowd.

"Arc pistol." He simply said, before stowing it away again. "Who's next?"

* * *

One after another students were knocked out of the fight. Usually Armis won from arena knock-outs. Such was the fate of Yang, Ren and Weiss. All three made use of fast charging attacks and Armis simply lead them around, made them over extend and then knocked them out of the ring. Ruby perhaps lasted a small bit longer, but the result was the same. To Armis' disappointment, her killing intent wasn't there anymore. She was nervous and second guessing herself after seeing her companions so easily defeated. He simply caught her scythe mid-swing and picked her up. Multiple arms immobilising her arms and legs, stopping her from escaping, he threw her out of the arena.

Nora and Blake were bested by Aura depletion. Nora lasted a few minutes, but didn't land a single hit with Magnhild. Her grenade launcher knocked her opponent around a bit, but it was purely concussive, no shrapnel. The match was decided when Armis took out the arc pistol again and Nora, grinning from ear to ear, opened her arms wide and stuck her chest out. Her semblance was to absorb electrical attacks and hit back all the harder for it. However instead, Armis refrained from pulling the trigger and unleashed a shotgun blast that was concealed within the folds of his cloak. The huge shell exited the gun barrel and exploded mid air, sending thousands of tiny micro darts out into the air in a wide spread pattern. The moment one of the darts struck Nora, the remaining darts all changed direction and homed in on the ginger haired girl, carpet bombing her aura with uncountable, high velocity micro darts. Nora was forced backwards, but remained standing. Her aura however, had hovered slightly into the red and signaled her loss.

As Nora reluctantly returned to the arena stands, Armis pulled out the offending shotgun and exposed the expended barrel. A single large, empty shell casing shot out and clattered to the floor. He looked up at Ruby and preemptively answered the obvious question.

"Flechette shotgun." He said, inserting a fresh shell into the gun and cocking it back into place. "Next."

Blake was his final opponent. The entire audience was focused on the fight. This was the last chance for them to see Armis defeated and they were confident in their friend. Blake however, was as nervous as Ruby had been and for good reason. Armis had dealt with each and every one of them without breaking a sweat, predicting their moves and instantly moving to counter them. He waited now in the centre of the arena, waiting.

"I don't have much of a chance here do I?" Blake spoke up, hearing Armis chuckle in response.

"How about you find out?"

Blake ran forward and slashed at Armis with the Gambol Shroud. Armis ducked and fell back to the edge of the arena. Blake realized that this was the same tactic he had used on Yang. He would wait for her to lunge and then push her out of the ring. So Blake did just that. She jumped at him swinging her black cleaver as she went. Just as before, he ducked underneath her attack, but moved forward, underneath Blake and punching upwards with four fists, sent her out of the arena. But as Blake fell, she whipped the Gambol Shroud back into the arena. The blade split and the pistol bayonet, with a long attached ribbon uncoiling around Blake's wrist, dug into the far side of the arena and wedged itself there. But Armis had again predicted this and as the black length of ribbon snapped taut, bringing her back into the arena, Armis reached out and grabbed the ribbon. Instead of cutting the ribbon however and securing an easy knock out, he pulled hard; sending Blake careening out of control and straight into Armis' outstretched arm, close lining her. She collapsed to the floor, but before she could recover, she felt a hard boot crush down against the aura protecting her face. Armis slammed his foot down, quite brutally, again and again down onto Blake's head. Blake panicked as she heard the bell toll, telling her that her aura had gone into the red, yet Armis' boot continued to descend. She shut her eyes and a split second later, heard a crunching noise. She reopened her eyes, she saw a boot dangerously close to her face and several small cracks along the concrete.

"Awwwww come on!" Nora roared in anguish. "That's no fair!"

"Calm down Nora, he won the fights fair and square." Ren chastised.

"But still! All of us?" Nora pouted.

"Don't be so disappointed in yourselves. You all are accomplished warriors. I simply have more experience than you." Armis chimed in, reaching out with one hand to pull Blake up, which she gratefully accepted. "I doubt all of you combined could beat me in a fight."

A few indignant looks went across the room and one indignant snort, courtesy of Weiss. Blake looked a little incensed as she got up from the floor and unconsciously her eyes became vertical slits for a fraction of a second. Enough time for Armis to notice. His eyes widened and he let go of Blake's hand, almost causing her to fall to the floor again. He wiped his hand on his cloak in disgust.

"Abhuman..." He whispered, but not low enough for Blake to miss.

She stood to her full height and crossed her arms, she was about to retort, but shouts from the crowd interrupted her.

"What do you mean all of us couldn't beat you?" Pyrrha argued. "You're beginning to sound like Cardin. A pompous ass."

Armis raised his eyebrows at that. "I am merely stating fact. I may sometimes underestimate my opponents, but I've seen all of you in combat and I never overestimate myself."

"How about you prove it?" Jaune spoke up, gaining confidence as his friends all nodded.

The cloak surrounding Armis moved and shifted. The teams had seen Armis enough that they knew he was crossing his arms. A pair of them at least. Maybe more.

"I have nothing to gain from such a fight. And neither do you. I apologise if I have offended you."

Yang smirked and smashed Ember Celica together. "How about we have a little bet then."

Knowing smiles spread across the students.

"A wager?" Armis asked. "Very well. I'm listening."

"If we can either knock you out of the ring, knock you unconscious or get you to surrender…"

Armis snorted at the word, 'surrender.'

"You have to give us your cloak."

Armis turned to who had said that. Ruby apparently. She had her arms crossed as well. The red caped girl blurred up to her sister and held out her hand.

"For all of the festival." She finished, with Yang slapping her hand.

Armis was actually quite horrified. He loved his cloak. And Ruby knew that, yet still asked for it. How very, very cruel.

'How very, very familiar.' Armis thought. "And what do I get if I win?" He countered.

Ruby frowned. "Errrrrr…."

"What do you want?" Weiss asked, helping her team leader.

Armis contemplated that question. There was nothing he really needed or wanted at the moment.

'Perhaps a favor? To be redeemed in the unforeseeable future? Two teams of hunters in his debt was certainly appealing.' Armis thought. 'No. Definitely not. I am not the Inquisitor.'

A dozen seconds went by of silent debate in Armis' head. And then it struck him.

"What is a date?"

The question came out of nowhere and surprised the assembled teams.

"What? As in the day?" Blake asked, confused.

"No. I've heard the word being used out of context constantly in the academy and in Vale. It has begun to annoy me, not knowing what it is." He pointed at Jaune. "You used it in the same way." Armis then pointed at Weiss. "To her."

A collective 'ooooh' echoed around the room, as everyone realized what Armis was talking about. Jaune quickly spoke up. This, apparently, was his field of expertise.

"A date is where you ask a girl to meet you at a location and then you spend time together doing something you both like. If you both enjoyed the date then you would go on another one, another time."

Ren sighed and shook his head. "A bit too quick on the draw there, Jaune."

Wiess slapped him across the back of the head. "That's so sad. And your so stupid!"

"Ow! What?"

"You just gave him information we could have used against him! For free!" Weiss scolded.

Armis chuckled again. 'Again! Damn, what was wrong with him?'

"In that case…" Armis started. "If I am able to beat all of you. Again…"

"Get to the point!" Nora shouted. "I want to smash you!"

"I get everything in the betting pool."

Everyone froze. Yang and Ruby's mouths opened and closed like a fish. Jaune and Pyrrha coughed in surprise. Ren and Nora stuttered trying to come up with an excuse. Blake simply sighed.

"How did you-" Weiss started, but stopped as she looked at Armis' raised brow and knowing look. "Right. Your you. Nevermind."

"And I get to take one of you on a 'date.'" Armis added.

"WHAT!?" Shouted all but one of the girls.

"Wait a second…" Stuttered Jaune and Ren.

Ruby didn't say anything, but after looking around at her teammates, she let out an unconvincing; "Whaaaaa?"

"Do we have a deal?" Armis pushed.

More indignant looks, harsh words and a not-so-quiet two minute long whisper fight later…

Yang approached Armis.

"You give us your cloak for the entire Vytal festival, you do all of our cleaning for the same amount of time and!" Yang raised her hand into the air and then posed, pointing her finger at Armis' face. "You tell us exactly what you have been doing on your little trips to Vale and Ozpin's office."

"Deal."

* * *

Ozpin and Glynda were up in the clock tower watching the training session from the beginning. They were very much impressed with Armis' display of fighting prowess. But now they were more interested in what Armis was doing surrounded by both of the teams. They had been discussing something and then Armis had left. Ozpin and Glynda couldn't make out what exactly had been said, but now they had some idea of what was going on. Armis had done something to anger all of the students and now that he had returned, they were surrounding him in the middle of the arena weapons drawn. Armis was revealing each and every one of his arms, with some form of gun or sharp object held in each hand, like some kind of twelve-limbed spider. Glynda reached to draw her whip and begun to leave.

"I'll go down there to break it up." She said.

"No wait." Ozpin replied, stopping her. "Let's see how this plays out."

* * *

There was a tense silence in the arena classroom as the room's occupants waited for the starting bell.

"Fair warning." Armis said. "I really like this cloak. I am going to be fighting seriously from here on out."

"You weren't before?" Jaune asked.

"No. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"Yes." Came a short answer from Nora.

"Alright then. But let it be known. I gave you all a way out of this."

The various hunters in training shifted their footing and relaxed and gripped their weapons constantly. Armis' weapons each moved in accordance to his opponents positions.

The bell rung and Nora and Yang charged at Armis. Followed by Weiss and Jaune. Armis dodged Yang's punch and jumped, flipping over and landing a flying overhead kick to the top of Yang's head. Yang fell flat to the floor and Armis balanced upon her head with one foot. He jumped again over Nora's hammer that was streaking down towards him and kicked the back of the hammer, causing it to crash down on Yang's back. With a suitable vantage point atop a tower built from Yang's body and Nora's hammer, Armis opened fire upon Weiss. With little to no protection other than Aura, the ice queen took a bolt round to the forehead, that detonated and sent her flipping back. Jaune approached from behind Nora, as the girl in question babbled her apologises to a moaning Yang. The cloaked man leapt down from the hammer and kicked Nora in the face as he went. Jaune held his shield high to protect himself and Armis landed atop of it, forcing the boy down, until he was almost kneeling. Armis saw Ruby blurring forwards to help her friend, and opened fire with a pair of stub carbines. Several pinged uselessly off Ruby's aura, as she swung the Cresent Rose horizontally, so not to hit Jaune. The red scythe cut the air, but Armis launched himself backwards, using Jaune's shield as a springboard.

Pyrrha extended her sword to its full length and duelled with Armis, who had pulled out combat knives. Behind him, Ren shot dozens of rounds at him with his pair of sub machine guns. Armis didn't move and the bullets impacted into his back, but they only bounced off in small flashes of light.

"He's got that light shield!" Ren warned his teammates. "Only use light attacks."

Ren and Blake struck against Armis' back, with bladed SMG and black cleaver, but Armis turned to the side, two more knives moving to intercept and counter. Ruby and Jaune picked up Weiss and they too joined the combat adding their attacks to the team's efforts to hit Armis. The cloaked man was now surrounded, his body twisting and head darting from side to side, arms whirling around to block, parry and deflect all threats. Armis was smiling manically. Here was another challenge. Him vs everyone else. Him against the sea of enemies.

Jaune drew first blood, a stabbing thrust against one of his arms. Armis compensated by punching Jaune back, right in the face, knocking him out of the circle.

Jaune skidded on his back but was able to call out; "His shields not on! Nora! Bring the hammer down."

Yang picked up Nora and threw her into the air above the combat.

"Yes sir!" She shouted, saluting, before she came crashing down towards Armis, hammer raised.

Armis, of course, heard this exchange and saw her coming. But surrounded by the other students, he had very few options. Armis' timed each of his blades and pushed back against his foe's strikes, causing each to recoil, giving him a precious second to act. He dropped four of his weapons and pulled out _Honesty, Humility, Disappointment_ and _Death_ , his four bolt pistols and span around placing a bolt into Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha and Ren. He put two into Ruby, just to be sure. The students surrounding Armis were all knocked away from him, but there was too little time to dodge the incoming Nora. Armis dropped all of his weapons, sending them clattering to the floor in a circle around him and raising all twelve hands in an attempt to stop Nora's hammer. Magnhild impacted against the overlapping hands and Armis let out a roar of pain as he felt three of his arm bones break and several of his fingers snap. His metal talons had taken the brunt of the force, and even they were now bent out of shape. But he had successfully halted the impact and survived. Armis however, didn't expect Nora to land back on the floor and swing at him again from the side, smashing him away and to the edge of the arena.

Armis stood up, but was instantly confronted by Ruby, who sprinted at him, aiming to knock him out of the arena. Armis reached out and grabbed hold of the scythe she held and they became locked in a struggle to push the other back. Armis had no weapons, he was tired, several of his bones were broken and it galled him, but he was losing this struggle. Inch by inch he felt himself skidding further and further back.

"Which girl were you going to ask on a date?"

The whisper shocked Armos and he blinked several times before realising that he was no longer being being forced back. Ruby and him were still pushing against each other, and the teams were cheering her on, but he remained in the same position. He looked into Ruby's eyes. They were dead serious.

"Ruby Rose." He replied in an uncertain whisper.

The girl blushed and loosened her grip on her weapon.

"Throw me over you."

"Wha-"

"Throw me over you dammit!" She whisper shouted.

Armis did as he was told and he felt Ruby purposefully jump with him, sending her out of the arena.

"Awwwww!" Ruby faked, rather convincingly actually.

Armis turned to look at her and gave her a whispered piece of advice.

"Cover your ears."

He turned to the disappointed, but nevertheless advancing students.

"Last chance. Surrendering now will save you a great deal of pain in the near future." Armis warned once again, arms broken and bleeding, weaponless and seemingly defeated.

Nora laughed. "Oh no! Your not getting out of this. Your bluffing."

Yang, still slightly groggy from the impact of Nora's hammer, smirked as well. "It's payback time."

The group seemed to agree. This was it. All thoughts of individual gain had been cast aside. This was the moment that the two teams heroically came together to beat a greater evil. They charged forwards as one, ready to force Armis out of the arena with their own bodies of need be.

Armis had nowhere to go. He was trapped at the edge of the arena. He braced himself, putting two hands over his head and shutting his eyes closed. Ruby noticed that, once again, Armis seemed to have a plan. His hands were covering his ears, and his eyes were screwed shut, not in defeat, but in preparation for something.

"I never bluff." Armis said, pulling out a spherical object from his cloak and held it to his chest, hands clasping over the smooth red metal surface.

The red object was actually the domed headpiece of some kind of robot. Several blue lenses of various sizes dotted the supposed front of the device. Pipes and wires uncountable linked and weaved under the half circle of a head. A large silver antenna pole was attached to the side, horizontally and Armis flipped it vertical and pulled out a detonator from the mess of wires. Ruby instantly followed Armis' advice and slapped her hands over her ears so fast that a line of rose petals materialised around her.

"And no one gets to take my cloak." Armis finished, flipping open the detonator catch and thumbing the red button underneath.

A millisecond went by with nothing happening. The students grew ever closer to Armis and then an unbearably high pitched screech cut through the air. And all the biological sensory systems in Yang, Ren, Nora, Jaune, Weiss, Blake and Pyrrha's bodies suddenly shut down. Every sense they had burned, every nerve was touched and overloaded by the disruptive wavelengths Armis' device produced. They were robbed of their sight, eyes becoming red and bloodshot, tears pouring down their faces. Their ears rang and screamed, the pain spreading into a mind-numbing clawing at their brain. Their mouths burnt as though they were filled with hot coals, just as their throats were set afire and oxygen seemed to only stoke those flames.

* * *

A howling feedback of static filled Ozpin's office in the clock tower.

"What is going on?" She tried to shout over the noise, covering her ears.

Ozpin didn't answer and was trying to fix the screen that had once been viewing the arena classroom. It showed only a craze of fizzing black and white.

"What the hell is going on!?" Ozpin unknowingly repeated.

* * *

Ruby, being forewarned and further away was affected to a much lesser degree. Her eyes still teared up and her ears still rang, but she could see well enough to witness what Armis did next. He gently placed the device down, completely unaffected by the barrage of white noise the thing produced. The students before him were all being brought to their knees, wiping their eyes, clawing at their ears or clutching their throats.

Armis clicked all of his fingers at the same time and focused them all on his chest. His fingers curled into claws and he seemed to be holding an invisible ball that was constantly fighting against him. Ruby felt a scratching in her head, a gnawing at her mind and she had the gut feeling that something just wasn't right. Ruby blinked. And the moment her eyes opened, she could suddenly see a strange aura surrounding Armis. It flowed off him like a wave. A Red, Green, Pink and Blue wave of flowing, fluctuating energy. It gathered in a swirling vortex of distorted reality in Armis' many hands. A huge burst of energy flew forwards as Armis shouted in effort and threw his arms out towards the struggling huntsmen and women-in-training. A four coloured wave pushed towards like a tidal wave, picking up those in front of him and sending them spiralling through the air and out of the arena.

* * *

There were pained gasps and moans from the other side of the room as all the students, bar Ruby, recovered. Armis was breathing heavily and all his arms hung at his sides loosely.

"What happened?" Blake coughed.

"It feels like there's a drill in both of my ears." Jaune moaned, clutching his head.

"And their meeting in the middle." Ren agreed, through gritted teeth.

Armis reached down and picked up the deactivated red helmet and returned it to its place within his cloak.

"I won." He said.

Yang got up and almost looked like she would jump back in the arena and strangle Armis.

"That was so cheating!" She shouted at him.

"How so? I was unaware of any weapon restrictions."

"Because... Because..." Yang tried.

"I have bested all of you and therefore fulfilled the deal. In all honesty, I don't very much care for the items within your small betting pool." Armis paused and then looked at Ren. "Although I wouldn't mind finding out what pancakes are."

"You don't know what pancakes are!?" Ruby and Nora screamed and then regretted it when all their ears screamed in protest, along with everyone else in the room except Armis.

"How were you not effected by... Whatever it was?" Weiss asked.

Armis pointed to a spot just above his ear.

"I have a machine in my head that nullifies the sound of the neurostatic bombardment this thing produces."

"So who's the lucky girl?" Ruby asked, twiddling her thumbs.

"Or unlucky girl..." Weiss mumbled under her breath.

Armis raised an eyebrow to that, but ignored it.

"You, Ruby." He answered the now blushing girl.

"No." Yang instantly said.

"Are you going back on our deal?" Armis said coldly, turning to Yang.

"No... But... I mean yes. I mean..." Yang stuttered, steam seemed to be coming from her head. "Dammit..." She finished meekly.

Armis turned back to Ruby.

"Although this was part of the deal, I cannot force it upon you. You may refuse if you wish." Armis said to Ruby, bowing his head slightly.

All heads turned to the nervous girl in red. She was smiling from ear to ear. But she quickly blushed even more, at the attention she was getting. and began circling her index fingers again.

"No, it's ok. I'll go on a date with you."

"Wonderful." Weiss pouted sarcastically.

"This can't be happening!" Yang groaned, rocking her head back and forth. "This isn't happening!"

Ren and Jaune gave each other a look and shrugged their shoulders.

'Crisis averted.' They both thought.

"Good luck Ruby!" Nora cheered.

"I will require some time to recover from these wounds," Armis spoke. "Shall meet you outside your dorm room tomorrow?"

"That would be good." Ruby nodded.

Armis chuckled as he remembered something. "Banzai?"

Ruby laughed back and raised her fist in the air.

"Banzai!"

Yang promptly fainted.

* * *

 ** _Armis has won the bet, and now gets to claim, to some, the greatist prize of all! Pancakes. Oh and a date with Ruby. Now all he has to do is pick a location. But are we sure he fully understands the exact significance a first date has with a girl? And what has he been doing under 'Ozpin's orders?'_**

 ** _I hope this fight scene didn't seem to drag on for too long. I was planning on having Armis end the fight immediately by dropping the neurostatic bombardment immediately, but it just developed into a longer and longer fight scene. Opinions?_**

 ** _Edit: Thanks so much to Nemris for drawing up Armis Zwolf in such a short amount of time. The picture is now the cover image of this story and is also on his deviant art page. I seriously_** ** _recommend checking his artworl out as well as reading his Warhammer 40k x RWBY crossover: Chaos is the Prize._**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: Winning a bet with both Teams RWBY and Team JNPR, Armis has a date with Ruby to catch up on. But as night sets on Beacon Academy, dark memories and visions cloud many peoples dreams. Are they the past? Or the future?**_

 _ **Guest: Thanks for the support. Imperial weapons do have a use. Cigar lighters for example... ha ha. And I do believe insanely overpowered weaponry was a contributing factor. 'Their sooo- dreamy' Ruby 2016**_

 _ **Nemris: Yep although only just, and kind of by cheating, but it may be better than the alternative way he could have won... ;) stay tuned.**_

 _ **Thaqif: No. Sorry but I haven't watched Akame Ga Kill either.**_

 _ **This chapter is mostly am 'explain the Imperium' chapter. Apologies if it seems a bit tedious and probably late in the story. It had to be done at some point.**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

Sleepless nights preluded the morning sun at Beacon Academy. Nora dreamt of past events, her hammer crushing a somehow Aura-less Yang, a sickening crack resounding across her mind. Blue, plasma fire consumed a screaming Ren, the feeling of betrayal echoing through his mind. Blake dreamt of red-eyed shadows chasing her in the dark, all orchestrated by the devil himself, a grimm mask hiding his face. Red hair contrasted beautifully with the shadowy form that had taken the name of the first man. Weiss envisioned abominations, nightmares and madness made flesh, grasping at her with three arms, then six arms, nine arms and twelve. Ozpin imagined his impenetrable bulwark of a world, crafted so carefully and meticulously, only to crumble as the foundations rotted from within. Yang dreamt of simpler things, but nevertheless heart-wrenching. A grinning madman, laughing and licking its lips, dodged and weaved past her, moving as a shadow, darting from darkness to darkness. She chased it and hounded it through endless corridors. Even when her fists seemed to connect, it only flowed past her, capturing its prize, a glowing ruby. But if one could look upon dreams, compare each and everyone's unconscious dreamscapes, they would find a girl, cold sweat running down her forehead, whose horrors surpassed them all.

* * *

"Filthy xenos abomination."

Ruby heard a harsh, but feminine voice say behind her. A hard shoulder crushed against her, black armoured weight threatening to break her arm. She looked up and went to complain, but something stopped her. A voice in her head told her;

'He was used to it.'

'He? But i'm…' Ruby thought, but gasped as she saw her hands. 'Oh no, please not again!'

Her hands were pale. Her forearms were thin, but her hands were strong. And they were many. Ruby saw her hands move as one, all twelve of them. They flexed and clenched and she could almost feel the untapped strength rattling through her bones and the need, the anger, to use it. And like a lightning bolt, it hit her. In this dream, in this nightmare, this vision, she was Armis.

She looked around at her surroundings and could see that she, Armis and several black forms that she couldn't recognise, were marching through some sort of forest. Tree upon tree, formed into almost perfect ranks, lined their path, a long clearing through the dense wood. The sun was beginning to set and cast long shadows across the beaten earth. All those around her, she couldn't make out the details or features of those who moved close by. Except for the armoured giant of a woman, who had knocked into her, Armis. Clad in full plate of pitch black, a thought connected in Ruby's head, telling her that this was one of the Adepta Sororitas in full power armour. A Sister of Battle. It also told Ruby that she wore the colours of the Imperial Inquisition, complete with the stylised I embellishment over her right shoulder plate. The sister lugged around a huge flame thrower. It had two barrels, with secondary exhaust ports dotting the side of each one, the silvery metal underneath, tarnished by black soot. Ruby could almost smell the burning fumes the ignitors produced at the ends of the weapon, a sharp flame just waiting to be unleashed. The woman walked along side Armis now and she did not have a pleasant expression on her unhelmeted face.

"I don't know how his lordship puts up with such an affront to humanity." The woman scowled at her, him, the two scars decorating the side of her face, scrunching together.

Ruby felt Armis' anger boiling and his many fists clenching. She could feel cold steel underneath his grip and his intent to use it.

'No Armis! It's not worth it!' She tried to say, but this dream only allowed her to move with Armis, not against him.

"Perhaps inhuman filth such as you, does serve as a amusing pet for the Lord Inquisitor." She said with such a malicious smile, her actions ignored by those that surrounded them. Justified, due to the infamous victim's questionable origins'

Ruby felt the rage and the hate welling up inside Armis,' feel it boil within herself. She could tell that this was the usual treatment for Armis. Or perhaps it was even the best he could hope for. But the torment had gone on for too long, his entire life with the inquisition, and inside him, something snapped and his voice became a roar that silenced all around him.

"I'm just as human as you are!"

The sister recoiled back, and perhaps another disgusted comment would have passed her lips, if Armis hadn't continued. He revealed each and every arm from under his cloak, none of which were bearing weapons, to Ruby's relief.

"I am human. Each and every one of these accused arms, are human! They were taken, stolen and torn from my brother clones and forced upon me!" Armis entire being was shaking and Ruby's mind was sent reeling as years of abuse and helplessness came pouring through her head, memories of Armis' harsh past. "I was made into this! Do you have any idea what it's like to be born human, to learn, just like you, to hate the mutant, the heretic, the abhuman... Only to become the very thing you and everyone else despises in the first place!"

Armis's voice was becoming hoarse, almost stretching past its limit as his voice rose in volume as he completed his impromptu outburst. He stared in hatred and fury at the offending sister, watching for any sort of reaction, expecting nothing but more zealous fanaticism. The Sororitas in question, just stood there blankly, as if contemplating what Armis had said. Ruby unconsciously winced in her sleep and held her breath. Waiting for something to happen, something to go wrong. But perhaps, a lifetime of religious indoctrination gave birth to one small moment of clarity.

The Sister of Battle nodded her head in respect, after seemingly endless silence. "Perhaps I was wrong..." She looked back at a confused and baffled Armis. "If your rage and your determination is truly that of a human's and your body is that of a human's then... I apologise."

"You what?" Armis managed to stutter.

Ruby smiled. Perhaps this was not such a bad nightmare, Armis got at least one moment of kindness in his life, and perhaps a friend for the future.

"You heard me." The sister smiled at him. "Perhaps I misjudged-"

An small explosion could be heard in the distance, and a swift crack followed shortly, the signature sound of a bullet cutting the air.

Ruby screamed as the moment came to an end, shattered, as a sniper's bullet put a hole in the Sister's head, her body crashing to the floor. Suddenly the entire group began dropping to the ground in short order, with well placed rounds ending Armis' companions lives with consistent head shots. A dozen or so survived including Armis, but were completely in disarray.

"Grenades!" Someone called, but too late for anyone to take action.

Detonations went off around them, shrapnel shredding the remaining survivors and a concussive blast knocking Armis to the ground and into dark unconsciousness. Ruby's vision soon followed.

* * *

In almost an instant, her vision returned.

'Where am I? Did I wake up? What's happening?' She thought, panicking.

She couldn't move, it was like she was being restrained. Ruby opened her eyes to see uncouth man in leather scraps holding her. But it wasn't her being restrained. It was Armis. Twelve of these men had grabbed an arm each and held him down, lying on his back, the many armed man could do nothing. Armis was cursing and spitting at his captors, struggling and trying to bite at them. Those who surrounded them looked like tribal savages to Ruby. Scraps of leather and cloth adorned their bodies. Blood, both dry and new seemed to cover their bodies and deep red scars crossed and linked to one another into some kind of symbol. The more Ruby looked at them the more it hurt her eyes. A name, an unspeakable name filled with rage, bloodshed and murderous intent passed through her mind, courtesy of Armis' memories. Khorne. The Blood God.

As Armis continued to fight, a gigantic figure cast a shadow upon him and Ruby tried to recoil in fear. An armoured giant. Like Seraphim, like the Sister of Battle, but impossibly bigger. His armour was blood red, either from paint or actual blood, Ruby could not tell. But she could see the large number of skulls and decapitated heads adorning the spikes on his armour. Horns prodded out from the side of his helmet and rotten fanged teeth jutted out from an opening in the front of his faceplate. A gurgling laughter could be heard from within the helmet.

"Stop squirming little worm." It said, voice deep and full of static. "Your blood with please Khorne greatly. You've already spilt so much of it."

The giant knocked away two of Armis' restrainers, but before he could react, the thing had already grabbed hold of his two released arms and began crushing the fragile bones beneath it. Armis grunted in pain and swore at the thing.

"Blood." It chanted, placing a huge boot onto Armis' chest, who coughed and gasped as the air was forced from his lungs.

"For the Blood God!" The twelve followers repeated.

"Skulls." It continued, and began to pull at Armis' arms, bones crunching and flesh tearing.

Armis was screaming in pain, twisting, turning, trying to escape but he was completely immobilised. Ruby was forced to watch and tried to wake herself up. Tried to slap herself, pinch herself, anything! She even tried shutting her eyes, but one could never blink in a dream.

"For the Skull Throne!" They chanted and with a mighty snap, their captive's arms ripped off at the shoulders.

Armis screamed in utter agony, just as Ruby screamed in utter terror, blood pouring from the stumps in his side, and his movements became slack and his body stopped moving. Ruby tried starting to cry and shout at Armis, get him to keep trying to escape.

'Get up! Fight! Move! Anything please!'

If Ruby had ever cried rivers of tears, it would be at this moment. The thing that now held a pair of limp pale, continued with its chant.

"Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows..." He raised the two severed arms above his head, the blood dripping down into his mouth. "Only that it does!"

It gorged itself upon the arms, it's helmet splitting open impossibly wide and devouring them. Armis retained consciousness long enough to see his own arms be eaten in front of him. Ruby could feel fear and helplessness, once again overwhelmed by anger, hate and frustration. The caged emotion welled up inside him and Ruby knew that she only felt the same. It was as though both his and Ruby's emotions swirled into one. Armis screamed his hatred, swearing his revenge on those who would try to contain him and hurt him, and Ruby somehow screamed with him, adding her voice to his, swearing vengeance on anyone who would hurt and maim her friend.

An whistling sounded off in the distance and the earth shook as an artillery shell detonated. Several men around Armis' stumbled and he snatched his remaining arms away from them, using his free hands to attack those who still clung to him. Another shell detonated next to them. Fortunately for Armis, the blast was far enough away for him to survive, the blast absorbed by those that surrounded him, pulping them to bits, only sending him flying away. He landed in a mess, two arms trying to staunch the bleeding from the stumps in his sides. The armoured giant roared at the sky and then turned to Armis.

"Damn you! Corpse worshiping fu-" It cried before being enveloped in fire as another earthshaker round landed directly on top of him.

Armis turned tail and ran into the forest, away from the overwhelming smell of blood, away from the sound of devastating explosions designating the landscape. His remaining arms pumping forward and back, adding momentum to his stride.

'Run.' Ruby cried.

'Run.'

'Run!'

'RUN!''

"Get out of my head!" Armis shouted, tripping and crashing to the floor, clutching his head.  
"Get out of my head, get out of my head!"

'What?' Ruby asked in surprise. 'You can hear me?'

"I said..." Lightning began pouring from Armis' eyes and his hands began to glow. He pushed his hands outward and a blast of psychic power exploded outwards from him. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

The blast of force levelled the area around him, disintegrating trees near him, uprooting and pulverising everything else. Ruby felt as though she was being electrified and her body split from Armis' and she could see herself flying away.

"Get out of my head, GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GET. OUT. OF. MY. HEAD!"

"Armis!" Ruby shouted.

* * *

"Armis!"

Ruby's eyes snapped open and she realised she was no longer in her dorm room, but outside in the hallway.

'How did I get here? Where is here exactly?' Ruby wondered in disbelief.

She looked around and at the door directly in front of her. A plaque on above the frame read C4.

'Why am I outside Armis' room?' Ruby wondered.

Before she could contemplate her next move the door suddenly burst open, and Armis darted out, holding two knives in a pair of his hands, shouting: "What? What's wrong? How many are there?"

Ruby took a step back and her eyes widened, in both surprise at his sudden appearance and two large knives being waved in her face. What surprised her more was what Armis was wearing. His arms and body were bound by a white straight jacket, exactly the one you would find in a insane asylum. Two of his arms, higher up on his body were poking out of holes, torn into the top of it, but the rest of his arms were all strapped together around his chest and stomach. He was still looking around and at Ruby expectantly, with glowing red eyes.

"Errrm... why are you wearing that?" She asked cautiously, not sure she would like the answer.

Armis' head snapped back to her. "What?" Armis lowered his free arms. "What are you talking about? Why did you call my name at..?"

Ruby saw the restraining jacket stretch and strain as Armis tried to check a watch on one of his arms. He mumbled to himself in frustration.

"At whatever time this is!"

"Errrm... I don't know?" Ruby tried, unsure of herself.

Armis sighed. "There's nothing wrong is there? Can I go back to sleep?"

"Y-yeah. I guess."

Armis sighed again, louder, and turned around. "Goodnight Ruby. See you in the morning."

Ruby blinked several times in confusion, as she heard the clink of a chain and saw a line of heavy iron links connecting to the back of Armis' jacket.

"Armis?"

"What is it Ruby?" He replied turning around as he got to the door and began shutting it.

"Why are you wearing a straight jacket? And why do you have a chain attached to your back?"

"Oh this?" Armis said, straining the jacket out slightly in a gesture, and holding up a part of the chain with his free hand. "The jacket is serving the purposes of both keeping my arms together and still, while I sleep so they can properly heal. And it also helps stop me from struggling."

"Struggling?" Ruby queried.

"Yes. That's where the chain comes in. It locks me to the wall, stops me from moving far."

"And why do you need all that?"

Armis smiled and slowly shut the door. His dorm room was dark and as the door slid shut, only Armis' red eyes could be seen, unblinking.

"To stop me from sleep walking of course."

* * *

"Where will you be going."

"I don't know."

"What will you be doing?"

"I don't know."

"Why are you even going with him."

"I… Don't know?"

"Is that all you can say?!"

" Errrm... Yes?"

The morning was a welcome awakening for many of Beacon's students this time, in comparison to many early mornings. Today was Saturday, meaning a much needed lie-in and a day to do what you please, either around Beacon or around Vale. At the moment however Ruby felt like she was in interrogation room with Glynda again. Although it took three people, Blake, Weiss and Yang to make up her intimidation factor, it didn't make it any less... Well, intimidating.

"What will you be wearing?" Weiss asked.

"My normal clothes... I think." Ruby said.

That question reminded her, and she started to change from her pyjamas into her normal red and black outfit. Weiss huffed and muttered something along the lines of 'typical.'

"Don't be so condescending, Weiss." Blake scolded her. "Armis is probably just gonna wear that cloak of his."

"Woooo~" Yang mimed a ghost sarcastically, rather poorly, waving her hands in the air. "Scary!"

"Guys stop it!" Ruby begged, after finishing changing. "Please don't ruin this for me!"

The three looked at each other guiltily. This was Ruby's first date. They would do what they could to support her. And catch her when she fell, if the inevitable happened.

"We're just joking with you Rubes!"

"We swear we won't mess with your date any more."

"No promises..." Weiss muttered under her breath.

There was a steady banging on their dorm room, three firm knocks. It may as well have been the devil knocking down their door, at Ruby's reaction.

Steam seemed to be pouring from her ears, her eyes were rolling around and a sharp red blush covered her cheeks, contrasted quite nicely with how pale everything else became.

"Ahhhhhhhh! I don't think I'm ready!" She silently screamed.

"It'll be fine." Blake said, grabbing the panicking girl by the hand and dragging her over to the door, and shouting: "Come in!"

"Wait Blake! Blake!" Ruby tried to shout her down and compose herself at the same time.

The handle turned and the door opened to reveal... Armis. But at the same time, not Armis.

"Ok..." Yang said, peering through the doorway. "The Armis we know is a scary dark fellow, who wears a really big, thick cloak and has glowing red eyes. You haven't seen him have you?"

The man standing outside team RWBY's room, raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with me? I was told to dress smartly for a date. And this is what you people wear when wanting to appear as such, isn't it?"

"You dressed... a little too smart."

Armis was no longer wearing his black cloak and the team could clearly see his shaven head, which looked freshly shaved and washed. Ruby noticed, and was relieved, that he finally had his normal brown eyes again. He was wearing a shirt suit tie combination, with a white shirt, a black suit and a deep blue tie. A pair of his hands were visible, slotting though the sleeves of his suit like any other persons would, but his remaining arms were out of sight. Armis seemed a lot taller than normal, but that was most likely because he kept a lower profile while wearing his cloak. Shoulders square and wide, he seemed broader too, and the suit he was wearing seemed just slightly too tight around his body. The team could see the faintest outlines of his arms subtly moving inside the suit. Nothing too noticeable, it was only because they looked for them that they even noticed at all. To an outsider, Armis appeared like any other man wearing a suit. Except with shaven hair, a tattoo on the very top of his head, depicting a two headed eagle, and likely several concealed weapons on his person.

'And quite handsome looking too.' Yang thought.

She looked at Ruby who was blushing like crazy. Yang smirked. She was gonna enjoy watching how this played out. And then killing Armis, if he upset Ruby in any way.

"Apologies." Armis said, running his normal hand over his head. This one wasn't pale-skinned like the rest of his arms, signifying that these were his original ones. "I will change back."

He made to turn about and return to his dorm, but Ruby, and surprisingly Blake and Yang as well, all waved their hands in panic.

"No no no!" They shouted quickly.

"Your fine as it is."

"You look good."

"You look really handsome."

The three looked at each other and blinked, surprised at one another's reactions. Weiss just shook her head and facepalmed. Armis was just looking at them confused, but he could safely assume that his choice of clothing would be sufficient.

"Wait..." Blake started. "Who said..."

"Anyways! Back on the topic at hand." Weiss interrupted and pointed at Armis. "Where are you going with Ruby."

"Part of the Vytal Festival is starting in Vale today. I think I heard someone call it a fair?" Armis looked up at the ceiling slightly, contemplating the word. "A fairground. Is that ok Ruby? Ruby?"

Ruby was currently still staring at Armis, steam pouring from her ears and a blush across her face.

"Ruby? Are you ok? Your face is going red." Armis asked, slightly concerned.

"Ah! What? Yes that's great!" Ruby snapped back to her senses and slapped herself a few times. "Can we go now..." She chuckled awkwardly.

"Of course. This way. I asked Ozpin for a bullhead to take us there."

Weiss pouted and began grumbling off to the side. "Let Armis have a private jet and give me the public transport..."

As Ruby and Armis left the dorm room and started walking down the hall, Ruby staying silent and keeping her distance from Armis. She looked up at him as they almost reached the stairs. He didn't look back and continued looking forward.

Ruby coughed. "So..."

"Oh yeah!" Came a shout from behind them.

They turned to see Yang's head sticking out of team RWBY's dorm room. She narrowed her eyes and pointed two fingers at her eyes and then at Armis.

"I'm watching you, cloak boy. Anything you do to her..." Yang balled her hand into a fist. "I'm doing to you!"

Armis frowned and looked at Ruby strangely. Ruby looked back at him and would have apologised. But Armis spoke first.

"You're gonna take me on a date as well?" He deadpanned, but covertly winked at Ruby, who giggled, a bit less covertly.

They heard a frustrated groan from inside the dorm.

"Aaaahhhh! Go fu-" Yang was hurriedly dragged back inside by Blake and Weiss, before she dug herself any deeper into a hole, and said anything she may later regret.

"Come on, 'little one.' Let's go." Armis said, before turning around and walking off.

"Ok..." Ruby said, a smile on her face, the awkwardness dispelled.

She suddenly noticed how much taller Armis was compared to her. Almost two heads taller. Ruby pouted and tried to quickly catch up to Armis.

"Hey, don't call me 'little one'!"

* * *

"Armis? Could we make a detour?"

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"No I just need to visit... Visit my mother."

'I know that look.' Armis thought.

"Pilot!" He shouted. "Change of plans!"

* * *

Armis hated graves. Ironic, seeing as he had put so many people in them, and even dug a large number of them himself. But as he leant against the side of their bullhead and watched Ruby talking quietly to herself at her mother's grave, he could only feel sorrow. For both Ruby and himself. Monuments and statues he could live with. Eternal obelisks depicting a victorious war once fought or a even greater hero who gave his life so that others could live on. Either telling the story of great courage against the enemies of the Imperium, or great sacrifice where any other would flee, monuments such as these showed how death saved so much life.

Graves just showed you the dead. Graves showed you the past. Whenever Armis looked at the plain lodestone, overlooking the cliff side, all he could think about was who else was buried beneath the earth somewhere. And who was to follow. He did not think of the innumerable guardsmen who gave their lives for a cause they barely understood. They were so many that they had become only a statistic. It was not the butchered corpses of a thousand enemies, for their deaths were something to rejoice at. They were dead. He was not. It was the single deaths Armis had seen over the course of his service the Inquisition, that were the tragedy. And he could barely remember their names. Aviana, the wailing she-devil, Elysian drop trooper. Grunt, the gentle giant and a caged berserker. A Sister of Battle, name retracted, the fire maiden. There were so many more, whose echoes haunted his mind. Armis sighed to himself. He suddenly felt so old.

"Wish me luck!" Armis heard Ruby finish.

Ruby turned around from the grave and Armis expected tears. A downtrodden face or at least a blank expression of fake stoicism. What he got was a content smile and Ruby skipping up into the bullhead and sitting down against the furthest seat.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?"

Armis chuckled to himself. Either she just got to commune with her mother's spirit, or Ruby Rose had a lot more willpower than Armis had ever imagined. There was definitely a strong woman developing in that girl's body. A strong warrior as well.

'Now exactly how would he-' Armis mentally slapped himself and the thought from his head. 'No! You are not the inquisitor, she is not an asset to be used!"

Armis made a quick oath that he would never lie to Ruby, unless absolutely necessary and he would do his best to protect her against any horrors that this world was not prepared for. He walked up the bullhead ramp and sat down opposite her. The girl smiled at him, tilting her head slightly to the side.

Damn, he liked that smile.

Why did his stomach feel fuzzy?

* * *

"How were you selected for team Ruby?" Armis asked.

"Sorry what?" Ruby replied.

The two had begun to make conversation on the way back to Vale. As hard as Armis normally found it to start any sort of conversation, he was trying his best. It helped that Ruby seemed just as awkward as he was.

"Your team? How were you and your team made into Team Ruby?"

"Oh, Ozpin had a initiation test for us to take. We got shot into a forest full of Grimm separately and had to recover an artefact in pairs. Whoever you saw first would be your partner. And then the other pair that took the same artefact as you, would become the other half of your team."

Armis cocked an eyebrow. "So you named the team after yourself?" It reminded him of another group of sons named after an infamous warmaster.

"What? No no no!" Ruby waved her hands. "I'm not that arrogant, the name is each of our initials. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang. RWBY."

Armis looked even more confused, and not a little surprised.

"Wait... that's the same for team Juniper as well!" Armis then whispered their names. "Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren... JNPR!"

"Yeah. Of course!" Ruby answered, like it was the most simple thing in the world.

"And the leader is always the first letter in the name?"

Ruby nodded, smiling, oblivious to the rampant calculations and scenarios running through Armis' head.

"How is that even possible! Two random partners finding a random artefact, where another pair is finding their random artefact..." Armis' head began to ache. "And all of the teams became perfectly matched up to pronounce a word?! With the leader always being first?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that? Ozpin's been doing that for all the teams in the academy for years."

'AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!' Armis screamed internally, holding his head in his hands. 'My head hurts.'

A few minutes of silence came over the bullhead passenger bay, as Ruby smiled, perhaps at Armis' obvious discomfort. But as the silence grew more and more awkward, and Armis still not recovering, Ruby spoke up.

"So... You're not from Atlas are you?"

Armis' head instantly snapped up and stared at her.

"How did you know I'm not from Atlas?" He answered too quickly.

"You kind of just told me." Ruby giggled and smirked at him.

Armis growled in frustration.

Ruby's face turned serious. "Look, I'm not going to tell anyone. Everyone still thinks that you're an Atlas experiment, although I really don't know why you went with that as a story..." Ruby suddenly stopped talking and remembered her dreams.

Armis looked at her funnily, but didn't mention it.

"It was actually Ozpin's idea. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have told you and the team's anything."

Ruby smiled awkwardly. "You don't trust many people do you?"

"Nope." Armis nodded.

"Do you trust me?"

"N-" Armis stopped and really contemplated the question for a few seconds. "I- I don't know."

Ruby looked a little downtrodden at that, but she pushed on. "Look, if you don't trust me then don't tell me, but something is telling me that you want to talk about it to someone."

Armis thought about what she said. Ruby had definitely not given a reason for him to distrust her. Hell, she had given him good reason to trust her. She hadn't mentioned the shower incident or his appearance underneath the synskin. It took him a moment to reply.

"What do you want to know?" Armis finally said.

"Where are you really from?"

* * *

The Imperium of Man. An empire of human's that spanned the stars, countless worlds under its domain. This alone was enough to shock Ruby to the core, and at first she had been excited at the prospect of other people out there. Maybe even aliens. But that illusion didn't last, as Armis continued to explain. The Imperium is made up exclusively of human, with very, VERY few exceptions. Even the Faunus, who he called abhumans, were strictly regulated if not killed, along with a number of different types of mutants. The imperium suddenly seemed a lot less exciting.

Beset from all sides by so many enemies that made the Grimm pale in comparison. Orks, Eldar, Tyranids and many other xeno horrors, as well as being assaulted from within by literal daemons and heretics, the human race was made to wage an endless war for its very survival. Armis described each world being different, but all had one thing in common. Each was ruled by a Planetary Governor and must pay tithes to the Imperium, other than that they could rule as they please. Such hardship of fighting a dozen opponents while feeding the Imperium's bottomless need for men and resources had led to the creation of many totalitarian planets; any mistake was met with a capital punishment, or worse.

Armis seemed to hesitate at the mention of one of the Imperium's organisations, the inquisition, and Ruby recognised the name from her dreams. But as he started to talk, the words came pouring out. He worked for them as part of a retinue, for a ruthless man known only as Inquisitor. Bodyguard, assassin, strikeforce, he served all these purposes and more under the Inquisitor's gaze. When Ruby asked how he became part of this organisation, he once again hesitated, but gave in eventually. Armis couldn't remember his past life. His first memories was being strapped to a table and the Inquisitor standing over him.

Ruby noticed that he refrained from mentioning details of that day. Armis' screams of 'Please... kill me. Kill me!' Echoed through her head as she remembered her dreams. She shook her head and asked Armis to continue.

Barely a teenager, he had been immediately recruited, or, more accurately, conscripted, for some twisted reason. He had been told that he had been made into a killing machine and that was his only purpose. Training had been brutal. Moving his arms in union was hard enough, but using them to do multiple things as one? That was another story entirely. He was taught so many skills. Weapon handling and maintenance, espionage, weapon concealment, survival training, several different dialects of low and high Gothic, imperial languages, battlefield medical proficiency and so many more. And finally he became proficient in doing all of them. At the same time.

At some point during their conversation, Ruby had crossed over to sit next to Armis, who didn't mention anything about it.

Armis mentioned how the Mechanicus, a organisation of priests that built and maintained the technology of the Imperium, supplied the retinue with top of the line equipment, including his cloak and weaponry. Ruby felt a certain kinship with these individuals. Weapon smiths, armourers, architect's and mechanics all rolled into one. A question about machine spirits came to her mind, but she restrained herself for now. She wasn't going to interrupt Armis, when this may be the only time he would open up to her.

Armis once again hesitated when Ruby asked about the telekinetic powers he displayed in the yesterday's team fight. When she pressed him, all he said was that it was his semblance. But it was somehow not linked to aura, but to something else. Something much more powerful, and much more dangerous. Armis told her that things like aura was unheard of in the imperium, but his version of semblances were known, and also feared. Individuals with these powers were called psykers, and needed to be kept under strict control. Armis again alluded to the reasons why, but he did say how many psykers had an unhealthy habit of going insane. Unhealthy, both for them and anyone unfortunate enough to be around them. And he was feared and hated for his 'gift', so he always took steps to limit the use of his psychic powers.

He didn't go into detail about how he was treated, but he alluded that he wasn't considered the most... respectable member of the retinue, due to both his condition and his psychic nature. Those not appearing human in every way were held in much contempt by most imperial citizens. At best. At worst, many abhuman's without the protection afforded to him by the inquisition, were lynched or murdered in their sleep. And those he kept company with were definitely not 'most imperial citizens.' Ruby looked very sad at the mention of that, again remembering how the Sister of Battle in her latest dream treated Armis. If that was how she acted, Ruby dreaded to imagine how everyone else acted towards Armis.

* * *

Silence followed, as Armis stopped talking. He leant back against the metal surface of the bullhead and let out a sigh.

"Feel any better?" Ruby asked.

"Surprisingly yes. Immensely better." Armis looked down at Ruby. "You know you can't tell anyone about-"

Armis stopped mid sentence, his mouth freezing half open and his eyes gawking.

"Good, I'm glad." Ruby looked up at him, from her position around his arm and frowned in concern when she saw his face. "What? What's wrong? I'm not going to tell anyone, I swear!"

A smile returned to Ruby's face. The red caped girl was looking up at Armis, her body pressed close against him and her arms wrapped around his. Armis was surprised he hadn't noticed it, and he had doubts that even Ruby had noticed it.

"Y- Yes... Of course." Armis started again, unsure of himself. "Thank you."

Armis wasn't sure if he was thanking Ruby for getting him to talk, or hugging him, but he enjoyed the comfort of Ruby's proximity brought nevertheless. Ruby smiled at him and nodded.

"Good." Ruby gripped his arm tighter for a moment and rested her head against him. "Wake me up when we get to Vale."

Armis didn't know what to say. Or do. He couldn't move out of her grip without pulling her from her seat. That would most likely upset her. He definitely didn't want that. For some reason. He also couldn't wake her up now, as she quickly began snoring softly against him, and ask her to move. That would likely result in the same thing. He realised quickly that whatever he was feeling in his stomach was certainly not unpleasant, and the extra warmth against his arm(s) was welcome sensation. So he decided upon the best course of action.

"Ok." He replied, and remained sitting exactly still for the rest of the flight.

* * *

 ** _How cute. What could these unknow feeling possible mean for Armis? Perhaps more shall be revealed when both he and Ruby arrive at the Vytal Fairgrounds. I wonder what they could get up to. And who else will show their face._**

 ** _Next chapter is linking in to the very start of RWBY Season 3. I have muddled up the order of events so here is the time line for this story so to speak. Ruby goes with Armis, instead of her 'dad,' to see her mothers grave. They then go to the fairground and 'stuff' happens. And after that Team RWBY has their first team match vs Team ABRN. The fights from then on will be in the same order, with perhaps other fights added inbetween, not shown in the show. Just to clear up any confusion._**

 ** _Thanks so much to Nemris for drawing up Armis Zwolf in such a short amount of time. The picture is now the cover image of this story and is also on his deviant art page. I seriously_** ** _recommend checking his artwork out as well as reading his Warhammer 40k x RWBY crossover: Chaos is the Prize. Cant thank him enough._**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	10. Chapter 10

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: With yet more of Armis' past being revealed, as well as where he has came from, Ruby seems to be getting through to the many armed man. The Vytal fairgrounds is perhaps not the most romantic destinations for a date, but its certainly not the worst either. What shenanigans could possibly transpire?**_

 _ **Nemris: Once again thank you for your support.**_

 _ **Polarpwnage: Im saddened that you think so. I hope you continue reading and tell me if my writing improves in later chapters. Advice would be greatly**_ ** _appreciated. (Also for some reason your review wont show up on this site. Have it on my email, but not here. Anyone have any idea why this is the case?)_**

 ** _Edit: Nevermind, the problem solved itself._**

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

The Vytal festival was most commonly associated with the combat tournament between budding huntsmen and huntswomen in training. It was the festival's main attraction and where most of the funding went. The spectacle of combat always stirred something in the hearts of humanity. To be able to feel the adrenaline, the thrill and the closeness to death. But at the same time, to not be affected by the outcome of the battle. That's what people enjoyed.

But the Vytal festival also held several other smaller events and fairs, allowing the people of the kingdoms of Remenant to mingle with one another and have a taste of each other's cultures. Venders and entertainers both local and foreign were competing in their own way. The winner was the one with the most profits of course. And sometimes, there was no better reward than bragging rights. And at a certain fair, on the outskirts of Vale, close to the forever falls, a man walked that was a foreigner to it all. He was not from this kingdom or any of their counterparts. He was not from any village, or from any part of this world. To him everything here was strange. To him, food only served the purpose of fuel. To him, a shooting range was only a place to hone your skills. And to this man, the idea of fun and to relax was simply peace and quiet, alone in a room away from the noise and cruelty of the world.

All this, was something his companion hoped to change.

* * *

"I don't believe you."

"After all I've said about the imperium, this is what you don't believe?"

"It just defies all logic. Aliens, Psykers, demons-

"Daemons."

"Whatever. All that I can believe because it all comes from something living. But all machinery has a soul? No."

Two people casually walked and talked around one of Vales' fairgrounds, passing food stalls and shops lining their path. One was a small girl, clad in her usual attire, a black corset with a skirt and a red cloak. The cloak was hooded and a number of 50. Calibre bullets lined her belt. A silver cross clinked against them as she turned to her companion, flicking her black hair to the side.

"Then would you explain to me Ruby, how I calmed the spirit of the plasma gun, your moronic ginger haired friend angered?" The man replied.

He was tall, much taller than Ruby and had a shaven head. A black tattoo was slightly hidden beneath his small amount of hair, and if anyone looked closely enough they would see a two headed eagle. He was much broader too, and squarely built, if the shape of the dark suit he wore was anything to go by. He stopped and crossed his arms waiting for his companion to speak.

"You must have done something while I wasn't looking. Or it was coincidence. Or perhaps Nora didn't damage the weapon as much as you thought. Either way praying can not fix a gun. And guns do not have spirits living inside of them Armis!" Ruby pouted, waving her arms to emphasise her point. "I talk to Crescent Rose all the time, but she never talks back to me. Machines are just pieces of metal that have been assembled to serve a purpose. They can't choose not to do them because their not happy with it."

Armis chuckled knowingly. "I remember a time when I thought the same. Perhaps you would like a demonstration then? If I can prove that my weapons act on their own accord without my aid, will you admit that there are machine spirits and shout your praise for the Omnissiah?"

Ruby thought on this and nodded. "Yeah sure. Not sure how you can prove it though."

Armis' smile widened. "This fair has a shooting range doesn't it?"

"Yes. But we haven't seen it yet." Ruby told him, slightly confused.

"Exactly. Pass me that piece of cloth."

* * *

John Doe was your average, run of the mill stall owner. Usually he spent his days helping to run a dust and weapon store made specifically for huntsmen and women, but he couldn't say he was any good at it. Not bad either but bad enough that he had been given the job of manning the fairgrounds stall. It was a shooting challenge meant to help huntsmen and women warm up for the tournament. He had to set up targets all day and count the scores of participants in the shooting gallery all day. It was a thankless task, but John didn't complain. It gave him something to do.

"Hello mister!" Someone called to him.

John looked up from sorting through the cash register. A black haired girl with a red cloak was waving at him. He looked further and saw that she was leading a rather smartly dressed fellow by the hand towards his shop. And that man was blindfolded with a length of cloth.

"H- hello!" He managed to say, his eyes glancing from smiling girl to the taller man. "Would you like to have a try of our huntsman and woman shooting challenge?"

"Yes please! But not for me. It's for my friend here. He's from... Atlas." She hesitated at that last word, but John ignored it. "Just checking, but you've never seen this guy before have you?"

"Errrr no, I don't believe so." John scratched his head. "I recognise you though. Your Ruby right? You're going to be fighting team ABRN in the next tournament fight aren't you?"

"Yep that's me!"

John smiled, but then looked back to the blind man.

"Is he going to take that blindfold off?" He asked.

"No." The man spoke up. "Ruby could you please place my hand over where most people would shoot from?"

"Sure." Ruby smiled and placed his hand ontop of the wooden counter, in front of the bullseye targets. She looked at the stall owner. "He's trying to prove a point. He says that he has never been here before, or memorised the targets locations."

"Would you like me to move the targets just to be sure?"

"Is that ok Armis?"

The man shrugged. "Go ahead. I need a moment to prepare as well." Armis put a hand within his jacket and pulled out a long blocky SMG, and laid it on the table. He turned his head, to look in the direction of the stall owner. "May I use my own choice of weapon."

"Yep sure. Huntsmen do it all the time." John replied, beginning to move the targets around.

There were five of them, usually arranged as a square with the fifth in the centre, but now he made sure to spread them randomly, with no sort of pattern noticeable.

"My thanks." Armis nodded, pulling out the magazine for his gun.

"Stubcarbine?" Ruby asked.

"Stubcarbine." Armis nodded. "Now hush."

Armis began to adjust and go over the weapon, almost like he was drawing symbols and petting the gun like a tamed animal. After a second he began to pray.

 **"The soul of the Machine God surrounds thee.**

 **The power of the Machine God invests thee.**

 **The hate of the Machine God drives thee.**

 **The Machine God endows thee with life.**

 **Live!"**

Armis bowed his head and then picked up the gun, holding it up in the air. He put his other hand on the counter.

"How many paces am I from the targets."

John looked at Ruby and shrugged, holding up his hand with all fingers spread. He wasn't sure if Armis was allowed to know that information.

"About five." Ruby said, shrugging back at John.

Armis nodded and then turned around, taking five more deliberate steps away from the targets. While he walked, John leaned over to Ruby.

"You trust this guy right? He's not gonna just spray and pray down range right."

Ruby realised where they were standing as well and nodded. "Yes, of course I trust him..." Ruby glanced at Armis, who had stopped walking and was aiming his gun at the targets. And in their direction. "But just to be sure..."

Once John and Ruby were safely at Armis' side, ten paces from the target, Armis mumbled something under his breath.

"What?" John asked.

The blindfolded man sighed. "How much do I owe you for using the range?"

John laughed. He had completely forgotten about getting payment.

"Tell you what. If you can hit all those targets from here, you don't own me a thing."

"I best not miss then." Armis deadpanned

A few seconds went by. Ruby waited with anticipation, and John held his breath. A few passerby saw the three standing there and decided to watch, thinking that it was some event of the fairground.

 **"Oh Machine spirit."** Armis spoke, loud enough for only the three to hear.

 **"Lend me your strength, just as I lend my strength to you.**

 **Oh Machine God.**

 **Focus your wrath, giving proof of your dominance.**

 **Oh Omnissiah.**

 **Bless these spirits of both flesh and machine so they may become one.**

 **For the Emperor."**

The moment the prayer ended, and the last word passed through Armis' lips, the Stubcarbine opened fire.

Ruby paid attention to the weapon and Armis' hand. She had activated her semblance the moment the first shot had be fired, perceiving the smallest adjustments a dozen times faster than any normal person. What she saw astonished her.

The gun had moved!

The weapon had jumped and bucked with recoil and Armis had done nothing to control it. She could see none of the usual muscles moving in his hand, it was completely relaxed. But instead of the expected result of recoil, the weapon moved diagonally after one shot, then as another bullet left the barrel, the recoil caused it to move sideways. It happened five consecutive times, the gun moved apparently on its own, with no explanation as to how.

"Holy shit that was loud!" Someone shouted from the crowd.

'Imperial weaponry is not known for its subtlety' Armis thought, removing the blindfold. "Shall we check the targets?"

John, Ruby and Armis, as well as a few of the spectators, moved towards the targets. As they grew closer and saw the targets, their mouths, bar Armis', fell open. A solid hole, the size of a tennis ball, had been blown into each of the targets. Not dead on the bullseye, but all were at least within the first ring. Armis holstered his weapon back into his jacket and turned to face a flabbergasted Ruby.

"Well?" He asked. "Satisfied?"

A cheer went up from the crowd and a round of applause, but Armis ignored them, focusing on Ruby.

Ruby tapped her index fingers together in awkwardness. "Perhaps... There are machine spirits. Sorry for doubting you..."

Armis waited arms folded.

"I'll hear you say it Ruby."

Ruby sighed, defeated. "Praise the Omnissiah."

"I'll hear you 'shout' it Ruby!" Armis repeated.

"Praise the Omnissiah!" Ruby shouted.

"LOUDER I SAID!"

"PRAISE THE OMNISSIAH!" Ruby all but screamed, pumping her fist in the air.

A few people around them looked at them funny, but then a few chuckled and joined in.

"Praise the Omnissiah!" A man shouted, raising his fist, just like Ruby had.

"Praise the Omnissiah!" A woman joined in, and soon all her friends did as well.

"Praise the Omnissiah! Praise the Omnissiah! Praise the Omnissiah!" The crowd cried.

Armis looked around surprised at his unknowing handy work. He felt John tap him on the shoulder, and then he pointed at Ruby, who looked scared and uncomfortable surrounded by so many tall intimidating people. Armis read his thoughts immediately. Not literally.

Ruby felt someone grab her arm, and struggled briefly as another hand grabbed her other side and lifted her in the air. She stopped when she realised that it was Armis. He hoisted her up onto his shoulders, so that she could see the large crowd of chanting men and women that had formed around them. The noise washed over her and it seemed to ignite some unknown emotion inside her. Beneath her Armis raised on of his fists and shouted with the crowd.

"Omnissiah!"

Ruby laughed as the crowd repeated what he said.

"Omnissiah!" They cheered.

Ruby felt something scratching at her mind. She blinked and shook her head to clear it. But when she opened her eyes she could feel, 'see' all of the people's emotions rise from the crowd, brilliant hues of Green, Red, Pink and Blue. She laughed all the harder as this strange colour swirled around her and filled her body with emotion. She could see it flowing into both her and Armis, turning a brilliant Gold. She couldn't tell if the golden light was coming from Armis or her, but the shock of feeling and inspiration got her shouting and kept her shouting.

"Omnissiah! Omnissiah! Omnissiah!" She roared, and the crowd roared back ever louder.

Armis was holding her ever higher, and shouted with her, giving her more confidence to stand upon his shoulders. He was smiling and roaring. He laughed to himself as the noise rose higher and higher.

'Well it's not devotion to the Emperor.' He thought. 'But it's a start.'

* * *

"That was super crazy." Ruby said in between panting breaths. "What was that? That feeling?"

They had escaped the crowd and were now in a quieter area of the fairground, standing in a small clearing. Ruby was bent over and had her hands against his legs, breathing heavily.

"I believe that was the closest thing I've seen to faith since I got here." Armis replied.

Ruby stood back up and frowned at him.

"You're religious?" She said after a while.

"Aye. That I am." He nodded in response. "Is it strange for me to be religious?"

"Errrm no... Nothing really wrong with it, it's just that I never thought you to be the religious type." Ruby shrugged, and then put her hand to her chin. "Thinking on it, you have been saying those prayers to gun's and using that smokey incense. I just expected robes and constant religious quotes."

"I consider myself very religious. I pray when I can or when I need to. I just do so in private. Why would I need robes to pray?"

"I dunno?" Ruby shrugged. "So who do you worship? The machine spirits?"

Armis laughed and pulled out his Stubcarbine. "Technically. To tell you the truth, most machine spirits are quiet docile. Only the larger machines exhibit... Unpredictable behaviour. This here however, is an example of Cognis weaponry. It has had its spirit awakened and for that, I am extremely grateful for its service."

Ruby looked at the weapon adoringly. She could imagine all the benefits of having the Cresent Rose move on its own to strike down Grimm.

"So it doesn't actually talk to you?"

"No of course not. Machine's can't talk like you and I. Some of the strongest machine spirits can convey feelings, but only in exceptional circumstances."

"Wow!" Ruby gasped.

With the snap and flash of a camera, Armis froze. Ruby blinked in surprise and turned around to see Velvet smiling and waving at her, one eye covered by a old fashioned camera. As a rabbit Faunus, two large bunny ears extended from the top of her head.

"Say cheese!" Velvet laughed, and made to press the camera again.

"No Velvet don't-" Ruby tried to wave at the Faunus girl, trying to dissuade her, but had to cover her eyes as the flash blinded her.

She heard a yelp and reopened her eyes. Armis was speeding forward, towards the girl, finger still half on the trigger of the carbine in his hand. Ruby, luckily reacted quickly and sped forward, red petals whirling behind her in a horizontal tornado. She stopped in front of the now cowering Velvet, and held her hands up, pushing against Armis' chest.

"Hey wait! Wait Armis, please don't do anything... Stupid." Ruby pleaded.

Armis' grip whitened around the grip of his gun and Ruby saw his suit stretch and grow taut, as his arms strained against the fabric. He glared at the newcomer who had taken his picture.

"Give me that camera." He growled.

"What? I'm sorry I can't do that." Velvet said meekly.

Armis advanced on her, effortlessly moving Ruby aside. A menacing aura permeated around the man as he towered over the faunus. Velvet suddenly felt so small under his accusing gaze.

"Give me." He repeated, his hand like talons, reaching to snatch the device from her grasp. "The camera. Or else."

Petrified, Velvet could do nothing as Armis' hand descended. But at the last second a hand slapped it away, and a shadow passed over Velvet.

"Back off." Grunted the huge Yatsuhashi

Velvet looked up and saw the seven foot tall boy's armoured back separating her from the scary suited man.

"You ok Velvet?" She heard Coco say from beside her, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Get out of my way." Armis deadpanned.

Yatsuhashi simply folded his arms and remained in his path. A red haired boy, in a equally red vest revealed himself behind the giant and stood beside him.

"What's your problem? Back off." He warned.

"An abhuman just took my picture without my consent to do so. I want that picture destroyed. The camera as well, if necessary." Armis answered, folding his arms in a parody of those that faced him.

"That ain't gonna happen. No one bullies Velvet and gets away with it."

As the tension rose, Ruby once again got in the way of both team CFVY and Armis. "Look guys, please calm down!" She begged.

"What the hells up with your friend Rubes? What did Velvet ever do to him?" Coco asked angrily.

"He just doesn't like people taking pictures of him. And he's not used to Faunus. He's just came to Vale from Atlas." Ruby half lied.

The red headed Fox scoffed. "Oh so that's how it is. Atlas racist." He growled menacingly.

"Hypercritical cowards" Armis grunted back.

Fox bawled his fists. "Bastard. You don't know us!"

Armis chuckled maliciously. "Oh I'm sorry, so if any other person was to 'bully' Velvet, you would step in, yes?"

"Yes we-"

"Cardin Winchester." Armis stated.

Yatsuhashi and Coco looked down at the floor guiltily. Fox just looked more incensed.

"Go ahead. Tell me it's not true. Tell me that you have always protected Velvet from those who would attack her. Or perhaps that only applies for strangers, when there is no obvious consequence."

Fox roared in anger and ran at him, arm blades slipping onto his hands. Velvet shouted for him to stop, but in the blink of an eye, Armis had dodged to the side, grabbed a hold of his fist and kicked him in the gut. An arm now wrapped around his neck, Fox was forced to his knees. His team stepped forward to help, but Armis snapped the sights of his gun on them.

"Go ahead. Make. My. Day."

Coco and Yatsuhashi hands twitched towards their guns, and their feet shifted forward. Armis twisted the boy's arm further towards its breaking point. The kneeling boy let out a pained gasp, and his team froze in place. A few seconds passed with tense silence.

"STOP IT!" Ruby screamed, her voice almost bursting everyone's eardrums.

Everyone flinched and looked surprised at Ruby. She held her head down and her clenched fist to her side. She was shaking as she took a step towards Armis.

"Let go of him!"

Armis' eyes widened, but did nothing, uncooperative.

"Armis look, I know you hate being around people and especially people taking your picture, but you cannot stay like that forever!" Ruby shouted. "Velvet is a good friend, I doubt she would use that picture for her own gain."

Hidden behind Yatsuhashi, Velvet looked down at her camera guiltily.

"So will you please let go of Fox before I really lose it and kick your ass like I did in the arena!" Ruby paused, but seeing Armis looking reluctant, she spoke up again. "Twice! You owe me that much."

'There's the little Red Reaper.' Armis would have chuckled in his head in any other circumstance.

Instead he only grunted in frustration. He released the boy he had restrained and  
Armis kicked him to the floor. He shot a murderous look at Velvet and then stalked away, back towards the fair. Team CFVY breathed a sigh of relief. Coco smiled at Ruby.

"Thanks a lot Rubes. Way to channel your inner Yang! You should stay away from a guy like that." Coco advised, still smiling.

Ruby turned around and glared at Team CFVY with the same enraged look she had given Armis. Their smiles all dropped at that.

"Armis is not 'a guy like that.' If you have a problem with him, you can tell it to his face, not behind his back."

Coco flinched away from the angry girl. Yatsuhashi opened his mouth to defend his team leader, but Ruby kept talking.

"Frankly I don't like how Armis treated Velvet, but I know that he didn't do it specifically because she was a Faunus. He also made a fair point. I don't know which I'm more disgusted with. The fact that I do nothing to stop Cardin bullying Velvet, or that her own team isn't there to defend her!" Ruby raged.

The entire team looked downtrodden, unable to contradict what Ruby was saying.

"I swear Coco, if you don't do something about Cardin, the next time I see him teasing Velvet, I'm going to castrate him! With a scythe!" Ruby finally finished her rant and took a deep breath. "Now excuse me. I have to go catch up with my date."

Ruby span around and disappeared in a cloud of petals.

Team CFVY stood there in shocked silence, contemplating what exactly had just happened.

"Ive never seen Ruby get that... Mad before." Yatsuhashi said.

Velvet looked down at her hands to see that they were shaking, her camera rattling.

"Did we just ruin Ruby's first date?" The rabbit Faunus asked to a suddenly guilt ridden Team CFVY.

* * *

Ruby was angry. Angry at Team CFVY. Angry at Armis. Angry at herself for losing her temper. Which coincidentally pissed herself off more. She blurred around the fairground looking for Armis. After a while, with not result she stopped and began walking aimlessly. Paranoid thoughts ran through her head as she wandered.

'Will Armis hate me? It was his first date too wasn't it? He'll never talk to be ever again! At best! He might disappear again or give everyone the silent treatment again or- or-"

"Ahhhh!" Came a unladylike scream from directly behind her.

"Do you want to lose that hand woman?" The familiar angry voice of Armis asked.

Ruby span around.

'Yay Armis!' Was her first train of thought. 'Ahhhh! He's holding a green haired girl in the air by just her hand and she looks like she's in pain!' Was her second.

"Woah Armis! Please don't grapple with another person!" Ruby put her had on Armis' shoulder trying to dissuade him.

The green haired girl gritted her teeth. "Hey Ruby." She tried to say nonchalantly. "Please let me go."

Ruby finally remembered who this girl was. She was one of the students that was participating in the Vytal tournament.

"Emerald?" Ruby frowned and nudged Armis. "Please let her go, she hasn't done anything wrong.

Armis clenched his fist around her wrist, and shook her in the air.

"Confess."

The girl grunted again in discomfort and a small leather wallet fell from her hand, landing on the floor. Ruby's frown deepened and she picked up the wallet. Opening it she saw her own ID card in one of the pouches. Ruby gave out a small yelp and searched her own pockets for where that wallet should have been.

"Hey this is mine!" She cried in dismay.

Emerald smiled innocently. "I found it on the floor. I was giving it back."

"Ruby do you know this woman?" Armis turned his head to the girl in question.

"Yeah, she's a huntress-in-training like us. I think she was from Haven?"

Armis stared back at Emerald. The girl quickly capitulated after Armis continued to crush her wrist.

"Ok ok! Dust you win, yes I tried to steal your wallet." Emerald whined.

"Why?" Ruby asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

Emerald shrugged as best she could when suspended in the air. She had to admit this Armis fellow was pretty strong to be able to hold her like this for so long.

"Old habits die hard I guess."

Armis growled angrily and shook the woman again, taking his anger out on not-so-innocent victim.

Ruby sighed. "Let her go."

Armis looked at her strangely and the shrugged. He lifted Emerald to eye level and she could have sworn she saw his eyes begin to glow a menacing red.

"Don't bother Ruby ever again. Or you'll have me to deal with." He warned, before throwing her a good few metres away.

Mumbling both thank you's and curses alike, Emerald scampered off. That just left Ruby and Armis alone, both shaking their heads. Ruby blushed as she realised how protective Armis had been towards her.

"Thanks for that." Ruby said, clasping her hands together and twisting her body back and forth. "I was worried you were too mad at me to come back."

Armis raised an eyebrow. "Why would I be mad at you?"

Ruby blinked rapidly. "Because of the picture and Team CFVY and-"

"Oh I'm mad at them of course." Armis interrupted. "But no matter how begrudgingly, I let it go because you trusted them. And I trust you enough to follow your lead."

"Awwww thanks Armis, that means a lot." Ruby blushed further.

"Plus I would have done something stupid and likely ruined my relationship with yet another Beacon hunter in training team."

Ruby chortled. A moment of content silence followed.

"Huntsman and huntress in training." Ruby suddenly said.

Now it was Armis' turn to blink.

"What?"

"Huntsman and huntress in training. You have to make the designation. Some people get really annoyed when you just say hunter, or just huntsman or huntswoman. You have to say both."

Armis shook his head quite rapidly in disbelief.

"Why? It takes so long to say, or write for that matter!"

"You just have to say both." Ruby smiled sweetly, tilting her head to the side.

Armis could only sigh. Remnant was weird.

* * *

And so the date continued on. After visiting a few stalls, talking more about Beacon, Remnant and the Imperium, Ruby suddenly realised how much knowledge and experience Armis seemed to have. He picked up everything she said with ease, except for a few of the quirkier matters, usually regarding Ozpin and Beacon. She had wanted to ask the question for a while, but now her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her.

"How old are you?" Ruby asked, as they passed yet another stall.

A few people had arrived at the fair and were wandering all around them. She always noticed Armis glancing at them, as though he was accessing a threat. He even stepped deliberately in front of her once, when a rather large man cut into their path. Just thinking about it made her head all steamy.

"I'm not sure." Armis frowned.

"What?" Ruby almost shouted in surprise. "You don't know? Like, at all?"

"The first thing I remember was waking up strapped to a table. I was told that this was just before I hit puberty." Armis frowned and put his hand to his chin in thought. "The last time I checked I had a service record with the Inquisition that states thirty standard Terran years of service."

Ruby's mouth fell wide open. Armis looked back at her.

"So I'm around forty three years old." Armis answered. "Not factoring in the complications of warp travel."

Steam seemed to be pouring out of Ruby's head. Armis looked at her genuinely concerned for her health.

"How is that possible?! You can't be over forty!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Why? What age do I look like?" Armis faced Ruby so she could get a good look at his face.

Ruby stared at it intently.

"You look at the very least a mature nineteen." Ruby held her hands to her head. "There's no way you can be forty three."

"You're probably right with that assumption." Armis shrugged. "Don't take it to heart. Remember when I talked about warp travel?"

Ruby nodded. "Yes the imperium uses it to travel the stars."

"Well warp travel is unpredictable in that it distorts time. One example I can remember is when the Lord inquisitor's ship entered the warp, heading for one planet that had just recently been discovered. We spent five months in the warp with no difficulty. But when we arrived, the entire planet had been plunged into war."

"What's so strange about that?" She asked.  
"You said the imperium was always like that."

"For five years."

Ruby's eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect O.

"My service record was updated to add five years, while I myself had only technically served five months. So my standard Terran age is misleading. But it also means my actual age can't be pinpointed."

Ruby nodded understanding. "So how do you celebrate your birthday?"

Armis frowned in confusion. "Why would I celebrate the day I was born? I don't remember it."

'Ahhhhh, he's missed so much!' Ruby's mind screamed. 'I just wanna hug him and throw him around and wrap him in a comfy blanket and feed him chocolate!'

"Hey!" Came a cry from ahead of them, interrupting Ruby's train of thought.

Nora was waving at them from a wooden bench, along with the rest of Team JNPR. They were waiting just outside a stall that sold large quantities of confectionaries for consumption. Ruby smiled and waved back, laughing when she saw the industrial size pancake making machine dominating the stall behind the team. They approached together and Ruby gave another wave of greeting and a hey.

"Greetings." Ren replied.

"Nice to see you." Pyrrha said. "Where's the rest of your team? They are usually with you."

"Oh wait, you were supposed to be on a date with Armis weren't you?" Jaune added. "How's that going?"

"Ohhhh!" Nora jumped up and stared intently at Ruby, her grinning face just a nose away from her own. "What happened? Did he run away? Did you kick him away? Or perhaps he's waiting for you back in your dorm room huh?"

"Errr Armis is right here." Ruby gestured to Armis who was standing at her side, bewildered.

"Where?" Nora said looking past Ruby, her face still so unchangingly enthusiastic.

The rest of the team seemed to notice the person standing next to Ruby for the first time. They exchanged glances, and then stared more intently at the man. A few whispers were exchanged.

"Is that really Armis?"

"His face does bare a resemblance."

"I think it actually is."

Nora turned to her team and they all pointed at the suited man to her right. She finished a two hundred and seventy degree turn to face him. And then looked up at him. She smiled. And looked at Ruby, who was pointing at him as well.

"Oh don't be silly. The Armis we know is a scary dark fellow, who wears a really big, thick cloak and has glowing red eyes." Nora's face lit up with false realisation, and she looked to Armis. "Oh! You haven't seen him have you?"

Ruby and Team JPR face palmed, and Armis just folded his arms and shook his head in disbelief.

"Nora, I propose a challenge. Pancakes." Ren spoke up suddenly.

Nora instantly forgot all other concerns.

"Ooooooo! What sort of challenge?"

"Armis- errrm I mean this man in the suit here, has never had pancakes before. If you can eat more pancakes than him, he will buy us even more pancakes. If you lose-"

"*Unlikely.*" Jaune coughed.

"Then you will have to buy all of us more pancakes."

"Deal!" Nora shouted and ran to order pancakes from the stall.

"Armis- I mean, strange man in a suit I have never met before, do you accept the conditions."

Armis shrugged his shoulders, and walked to sit down on the bench.

"Does Ruby get pancakes if either of us win?" He asked.

Pyrrha let out a cute 'awwww.' Ruby tried to hide her blush.

"Of course." Ren nodded.

"Ready?" Nora shouted, slamming a huge stack of pancakes and golden syrup, in front of both her and Armis.

"Go!"

* * *

"Kill me..."

Ruby snapped awake from her small daydream. She looked around quickly, expecting another dream or nightmare or worse.

"My body betrays me." Came a moan from beneath her. "Stomachs are not supposed to be so full, but my mind begs for more pancakes. Just fething end me."

Ruby looked underneath the table to see Armis, curled into a ball, and slowly rocking from side to side.

"It's not fair..." He mumbled.

Ruby looked up at Jaune and Ren who were suppressing laughter. Pyrrha sat at the bench keeping an eye on Nora, who was lain out on the table, every so often burping and whispering; "Beat Armis... At something."

"What the hell happened?" Ruby asked.

"Well..." Jaune started. "Armis and Nora started eating. Then they kept eating. And then you went to sleep."

"And they kept on eating." Ren shook his head. "Nora won... But it was horrifyingly close."

"Wow. Armis wasn't lying when he said he had never eaten pancakes. And figuring out that he liked it resulted in..."

The three looked under the table, to a incapacitated Armis.

"A gargantuan pancake binge." Ren finished. "Like you wouldn't believe."

"Why are they so good?!" Armis groaned, clutching his stomach. "Emperors bones! I feel like I've been poisoned. I'm- I'm gonna sleep. Wake me up for the next mission Red Reaper."

"And now he's delirious." Jaune said. "I say we draw on his face."

Ruby, Ren and Pyrrha gave him a funny look.

"Yeah you're right. He'll probably kill me when he found out."

After cleaning up, and paying an extortionate amount for the sheer quantity of pancakes they had ordered, they managed to wake up Nora who commenced bragging about beating Armis. It took them significantly longer to try to drag Armis from under the table and prop him up in a chair. He was weighed down by ten extra arms and ten times the amount of pancakes that a human was supposed to consume. He also had the unpredictable habit of striking out at people who were trying to grab him, except, strangely, when Ruby held him. After Armis continued to try and recover from the pancake challenge, Team JNPR said their farewells and wandered off again, leaving Ruby and Armis to their own devices.

Ruby sighed. If she had to admit it, their date had gone better than expected. No one had died for one, and Armis seemed to have opened up to her considerable. The realisation that he was technically forty three years old was at first disconcerting, but if what he said about warp travel was true, he was still a young adult. Just a young adult with twelve arms, a tragic past of war and cruelty, and a virtual arsenal of cool, awesome, amazing firearms. Don't forget the guns. Especially the guns.

But Ruby still felt as though she needed to do something. Something to help Armis, make up for all the horrible things he had to go though. She needed to prove that people would not turn him away for his appearance and would accept him. But she just didn't know how.

A glint of metal caught her eye and she looked up from her thoughts, to see Emerald disappear just out of sight around a stall, weapons drawn. Ruby frowned.

'Why was Emerald sneaking around with weapons.'

She shook and called for Armis to wake up.

"Leave me alone..." He mumbled in his sleep. "Solve your own damn problems."

Ruby knew that he wasn't really speaking to her. He was in some sort of vivid dream, probably from his past. But something he said got to her and while it at first saddened her, that emotion propelled her to get up and follow Emerald. To solve the problem herself. She rounded a bend and once again saw Emerald disappear around a corner. Ruby blurred to the same corner and looked around it. Somehow Emerald was just as far away as before, walking away from the fairgrounds and into the forest. Ruby saw the back of her head disappear behind the long grass.

'Where the hell is she going?'

* * *

Ruby didn't know for how long she followed Emerald. The green haired girl seemed to be able to stay ahead of her, no matter how fast she moved. Ruby was now in a heavily forested area, and had no idea where she was or why she was continuing to follow Emerald. Was it because she had tried to steal her wallet? Was it because of what Armis had said? Or was it simply because she remained just out of her reach, and Ruby needed an explanation for her own irrational actions? She didn't know.

Finally as Ruby pushed through another growth of shrubbery, she entered into a clearing in the forest. Emerald was standing right there with her back turned.

"There you are!" Ruby exclaimed. "I've been following you for ages. What are you doing out here?

Emerald said nothing, a pale light shining down, breaching the trees. Ruby looked up to see the full moon high in the sky.

'How long has it been dark for?' Ruby hadn't noticed.

Darkness now surrounded them and the air grew cold. Ruby could see her breath as mist in front of her. There was no such mist for Emerald.

"Emerald. What's going on?"

The girl slowly turned to Ruby. She recognised her features, but what scared her the most was Emeralds expression. A malicious smile split her face, and her eyes were small black dots, betraying a psychotic intent. She began walking backwards, until she was almost enveloped in shadows.

"A feast." She hissed, her voice picked up by dozens of other surrounding her.

Emeralds eyes became red and started to writhe in the blackness that permeated around her. He body became absorbed in it, and it twisted and expanded until something completely different remained.

"That's not Emerald." Ruby whispered in fear, as dozens of red Grimm eyes made themselves known around her.

Beowolves and Ursas, both major and minor variants, began to appear all around her surrounding her. Ruby looked around for an escape, but there was none, more eyes burnt around her, too many to count. A rumble of earth and the crack of broken trees got her to turn around again, seeing a titanic Deathstalker Major topple the trees at the edge of the clearing and bare its claws at her.

There was no escape. Ruby quickly reached into her pocket for her scroll.

'A weapon. A weapon. I need a-'

A Beowolf snuck up behind her and slashed the glass device in two, the bits clinking to the floor. It howled at her and aimed to bite her head clean off, but Ruby jumped backwards with a yelp, avoiding it. She jumped too close to a Ursa which clawed at her back, sending her crashing to the floor. Two more Beowolves jumped upon her, clawing her her body, her Aura barely holding up. She was trapped under the weight of their attacks. Ruby screamed and activated her severance. disappearing in a cloud of rose petals. The circle was closing and she had to kick back a wolf Grimm that tried its luck. A Ursa charged at her from behind, which she jumped over. Another was waiting for her as she landed, and punched her, sending her rolling across the ground. A Grimm pounced on her again, and clawed at her face. The things talons breeched through her aura and opened three bleeding cuts deep into her cheek. Another burst of semblance allowed her to escape, but she held one hand to her face and hissed in pain. Tears threatening to join the blood running down the side of her face.

The shaking of earth alerted her to the Deathstalker that had joined the fray. She raised her head to see its bulbous stinger descend and she had no time to dodge, or activate her semblance. She raised her hands and used the last of her aura to stop the stinger, but the force of the blow brought her to her knees. The pointed end pushed ever closer, and Ruby cried out in effort to stop its advance. However the giant scorpion Grimm had other tools at its disposal. It's twin pincers grabbed Ruby by the arms, enticing another scream of pain from Ruby as the sharp edges cut into the skin above her elbow. The Deathstalker retracted its stinger, and raised Ruby up to its eye level, her feet far from the ground.

Ruby looked up to see its six yellow, emotionless eyes, and came to a realisation. It was playing with her. Tears finally did pour from her eyes. She screamed for help and tried her best to free herself, but every second the pincers applied more and more pressure on her arms. Ruby could feel the last of her aura break and blood began to leak from her right arm, dripping to the floor below. Ruby screamed, her mind afire with images and events, her life flashing before her. She closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable.

But the pressure on her arms suddenly stopped. The pain was still there, but she couldn't feel anything cutting her. She opened her eyes, full of hope. The Deathstalker stared at her silently. It released its hold over her left arm and left her hanging by her right bleeding one. There was excruciating silence for a moment and Ruby could stand it no longer.

"What-"

SNAP

All hope was crushed in an instant. Ruby began falling to the floor, Grimm below her howling and baying for her blood, ending the silence with their roars. The Grimm had been toying with their food. And now, they hungered.

* * *

 ** _Armis seems to acting more carefree, but just as usual at the same time. The date can be considered a success, but the aftermath will perhaps, result in far reaching consequences that no one could predict. A strange power seems to be surrounding Ruby, effecting her, but now she is lost, bleeding and falling to her demise. How shall this play out? And how will it effect the Vytal tournament as a whole?_**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: After a confrontation with team CFVY, Ruby and Armis' first date has ended and with the help of Nora and team JNPR, Armis is incapacitated through pancakes. Ruby is trapped and maimed by Grimm with no way out. Is there any salvation for Ruby Rose?**_

 _ **Shashenka: Thanks a lot for your words, your review and your support. I'm flattered you enjoy my writing so much.**_

 _ **Guest: Now you get to play spot the chaos cultist in the Vytal festival! And the Spacemarines are off doing space marine things. Probably fending off the 11th? 12th? 13th? 14th? Black Crusade? I lost count when Abbadon got into double digets...**_

 _ **Emperor KingPerby: Thank you. I assume you mean Titan, because I can't find a character named Tiran anywhere I**_ _ **look.**_

 _ **Nemris: True, Nora is pancake champion. Armis may have a superhuman metabolism but Nora is inhuman when it comes to consuming pancakes. Ren can attest to this. To your prediction; read on and find out.**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

Beacon Academy had always taken up the policy of tolerance and discretion when it came to their students. They accepted almost anyone, from almost any background. All under the all seeing eye of Headmaster Ozpin, you needed three things to be accepted into Beacon. A need to hunt the monsters of Grimm, a desire to redeem yourself in the eyes of the world and potential. Ozpin had a list of all students in his school on his personal school. On that list were several previous occupations linked to each student. There was a large number of the student category, and a few unemployed. But every so often more unusual categories sprung up. Terrorist, Convict, Thief, Gladiator. Bastard-son, Faunus, Mutant, Psyker. People from all walks of life, including those who once walked a darker path. But Ozpin did not care. These people were needed. Their skills were needed, and most importantly their loyalty was needed. And so Ozpin appeared to them, as an angelic saviour, pulling them up from the darkness of their previous path. Or as a wise old man who was to guide them to a more honourable existence. Or even appearing as the devil himself, offering something impossible, something they couldn't refuse. A new life.

Velvet was greeted by the devil. She was at the end of the line, on her knees and begging for a second chance. And he appeared.

"Come with me. Away from the hunger, the blood and the mire of these streets. Away from this life of seconds, buying time by stealing, hurting and running. I offer a life to last an eternity in the history of Remnant. Beacon awaits and I have need of your skills."

Velvet couldn't refuse. In the dirty forgotten alleyways of Vale, she chose life eternal, not fully understanding the consequences. Perhaps she knew what this man could have done now that he figuratively owned her soul. Slavery, a Faunus pet to a rich human master. Or perhaps a puppet needed to work and steal for him, keep his own hands clean. She didn't care. Anything was better than another day without food, another day running or another day of savage beatings. But a miracle occurred. She was to be a huntress. Clothed, fed, armed with magical technology previously beyond her wildest dreams.

But as Velvet sat in her room, alone and contemplating how she had reached this point, gaining friends, gaining enemies, what Ruby had said reverberated around her mind.

"Velvet is a good friend, I doubt she would use that picture for her own gain."

Despite all that had changed, she was still the same. A Faunus Thief. She just stole things different to food. Now she stole Aura and Semblances. Now, she stole power. Velvet sighed and took out her camera. She pressed a small button against the devices side, and with a whirr, two photographs slid out. She rarely used this feature surprisingly enough. She had no need for actual photos.

But now the bunny Faunus looked at the first photo. She saw Ruby, her dear friend Ruby. She looked so happy, smiling and looking up amazed at something her companion had said. Ruby always looked so happy. And perhaps too naïve as well. But her companion, Armis, was different. His face was contorted in surprise, rage and frustration. Velvet knew that face. He had realised he had been captured on camera, and knew that there was no evidence of his face that someone possessed. Evidence that needed to be erased. Velvet recognised the face of a professional. He could be another thief, a spy, or worse an assassin.

Velvet switched the two pictures. The second square photograph saw Ruby facing the camera, a look of fear in her eyes. She mouthed the words 'No' and waved her hands. Ruby knew how her friend would react. Perhaps she wasn't as naïve as Ruby thought. Armis had taken immediate action, the photo blurring around him due to his movements. He had ran straight for it. Velvet wondered why he hadn't just taken the camera then and there. Destroyed it even.

'He must have really liked Ruby, if he stopped only on her account.' Velvet smiled sadly.

Frowning she looked closely at the picture of Armis, his arm outstretched, and his eyes determined. Velvet couldn't tell what colour his eyes were. She remembered them to be brown. But here on the camera, she could see red staining his Iris. Looking closer, more things revealed themselves. The suit he wore was stretching with his body, but underneath his arm, pushing against Armis' side was the indent of another arm, mimicking the same grasping motion as his original. The sleeve itself had fallen down slightly exposing a portion of his wrist and forearm. Velvet stared at it. There was something attached to his wrist.

'Is that some sort of injector?' Velvet thought, seeing a long line of tubing going up his arm, similar to the tubing that hospitals use to inject IV fluids into patients. 'What does he need to inject?'

* * *

Everything moved so slowly. As the soothing feeling of liquid Onslaught took over and poured through his veins, sound was distorted, feelings were repressed and blood hovered in the air as tiny crimson droplets. Black monstrous figures bellowed and swiped at him as he moved effortlessly past them. Raising a hand, those in his path recoiled from explosions of light and fire. His feet planted themselves firmly on the ground and he jumped forwards. Everything in his path moved out of the way. Splitting apart with precise strikes of motion or exploding into a beautiful red flowers. More crimson leaked and spread across the air all around him, and then disintegrated into hissing smoke. He twisted and moved in perfect synchronisation with his many beastly partners, none able to keep up with him, all crumbling and falling. Everything seemed so… in place. Logical. Until he saw the tiny figure of a black haired girl fall through the air.

Realisation hit him first.

And then the red mist descended.

And the frenzy began.

* * *

Ruby could feel the air whistling through her hair, just as her life rushed through her mind. Yang, Weiss, Blake. Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow. Her mother. Armis. That last name seemed to have taken over her memories as of late, and haunted her dreams. She regretted that she would no longer be able to help him in this world, but was glad of the time she had already spent.

Ruby felt a searing pain in her arm and she glanced around, to see her severed right limb spinning through the air, still wrapped in her favourite black sleeve with the red trimming she had always wore. With a crunch she hit the hard earthen forest floor, her right leg snapping on impact. She screamed in pain and shut her eyes, wanting the embrace of unconsciousness to take her away from this burning agony. A second later she heard a thud and she reopened her eyes. Her arm had landed in front of her, blood spewing from the stump. She saw Grimm closing in, darkness and red eyes filling her vision. She suddenly heard whimpers of pain and explosions of light and blood from in front of her. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she saw several Grimm be cut to pieces in an instant, from blade and gunshot. A foot fall vibrated through the ground beside her and Ruby's fading vision gazed upon another figure of blackness. It was the dark warping nightmare from her first dream, a creature of shadowy body, crimson eyes and twisted limbs. It stood over her for a moment and as Ruby shut her eyes, a blood curdling scream invading into her mind and followed her soul into the abyss of unconsciousness.

* * *

Armis was too late. It was happening again. Always too late. Always too slow, no matter how much he pushed himself, no matter what technology or sorcery he used. Even with the combat drugs flowing through his system, it had only gotten him as far as where her crippled body lay. Armis wasn't sure how he knew Ruby was in danger. He just did. An itching in his mind propelled him in a direction and he did everything in his power to get there.

Stimms and Satrophine had burnt the cumbersome amount of food in his body and taken him straight to her, his already inhuman speed and stamina pushed beyond what would be considered normally possible. His muscles pushed and pulled and his bones hardened and set. It took a dose of time-warping Onslaught to slaughter his way through the dozen metre stretch of Grimm.

His suit had burst just as he had specified. Ozpin had done a fine job in requisitioning it. It was designed to split apart with enough effort, freeing each of his arms. The sleeve still clung to one of his arms and the tattered ruins of cloth hung at his waist, revealing another layer of synskin. The concealed pair of combat knives were in his hands and combined with his Stubcarbine he had cut open a path to Ruby. He couldn't feel anything, but sadness for his failure. Ruby had done nothing wrong. She had not deserved this.

'Is this the Emperors will?' Armis thought. 'To be tortured with another's death, but to always be so far from it.'

But as the high of Onslaught reached its peak, his senses told him that the Grimm had rallied. They closed in, claws raised. Another drug flooded his system, it's liquid fire running through tubes across his body and entering his bloodstream. Time slowed further as Armis' vision turned red. His sadness disappeared and was replaced by burning Frenzon. Armis screamed his hatred and the first Beowolf behind him was split in half, a mono-serrated blade severing its spinal cord with ease. The second beast, a Urza had its bone faceplate shattered and forced into its brain. Armis' fist pulled out one of the shards of the things brain pan and as the thing began to disintegrate, buried it into the eye socket of the Beowulf to its side.

More Grimm attempted to attack him, or grab the body of Ruby, but Armis stood over her, killing all who approached. Any his blades cut were split into pieces, arms, legs, heads. It appeared as though Armis knives split into multiples of themselves, cutting into several parts of the Grimm simultaneously, after images of shining steel blurring around him. Anything his fists struck were broken and torn apart. Beastly faces crumpled in on themselves, eyes bursting, brains crushed within their own skull. A claw was ripped from a shoulder and as the beast wailed and cried, Armis sent the same razor sharp talons crashing through its chest. Bodies piled up to waist height one moment and then disintegrated in the next, only to be replaced by more bodies, and the cycle continued. And all this in the space of a minute.

Armis howled and roared his fury, drowning out the sounds of Grimm and their death screams. One second, his gun flared and a beast died, bloody holes diagonally across its chest. Another second and he had finished beating a Urza to death with a bloodied fist. The same second his mechanical talons punched through a Beowulf's chest, reducing the thing to wet meat as he split his four sharped fingers apart. Suddenly, despite all this anger, this blood and combat and hissing and roars, Armis heard something. It was weak but he heard it. He could not believe it at first, but then it came again. A heart beat. He wasn't sure if it was a trick of the mind, but the sound echoed through his head. His own twin pulsing hearts skipped a double beat at the revelation.

'Ruby is alive.'

His mind argued with itself and the twisted influence of Frenson.

'KILL! KILL! KILL!'

'Ruby is alive.'

'SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!'

'She's bleeding out. She's dying!'

'SHE DIES BECAUSE SHE IS WEAK! WE ARE STRONG! SO KEEP KILLING AND KILLING AND KILLING AND-'

'Ruby is alive.'

'MAIM KILL BURN! MAIM AND Kill and-'

"Ruby is alive!" Armis screamed, his eyes glowing white as arcs of electricity spilled out of them.

A psychic pulse exploded around him, lightning and white fire vaporising all who surrounded them, sparing only Ruby. Force knocked back those further away, bones crunching on landing impact.

Armis' arms quickly wrapped themselves around Ruby, and held her too his chest in a bridal position. Two hands tended to her severed arm, one putting pressure on the stump, the other crushing her arm above the severed point, cutting off the blood flow. Ruby let out a moan of unconscious pain, but Armis did not release nor weaken his hold of her. Four more arms kept the small girl close to him and he sprinted for a gap in the grimm's formation. Any who grew too close, he cut apart with his knives or blasted to oblivion with a burst of stubber fire. In the chaos he felt a swipe connect against one of his mechanical arms. Two talons scraped harmlessly off the metal, but one cut the join of metal and flesh. His limb went limp, but enough drugs coursed through his system that he ignored it. Armis still felt the tug of Frenzon urging him to follow up on these attacks. To wade into the thick off the horde, and discard any bodies slowing him down. To fight back and avenge any wound against him, back a hundredfold. Armis' eyes were bloodshot, his arm was leaking blood and oil, and saliva was frothing at his lip. But Armis did not listen any more. He had failed to protect Ruby, and if he had to bleed to save her then he would bleed. If he had to sacrifice a limb to go that much faster, he would have severed it himself.

Rumbles and chitinous movements were ahead of him and Armis looked to see the Deathstalker blocking his path back to Vale. He roared at it incoherently and leapt over a swing claw. He twisted to the side as the stinger fell, a crater erupting around the impact zone. Ruby cried again at the sudden movement, and her left arm wrapped around Armis for comfort, her body instinctively recognising the warmth pressed against her. Armis kept running and leapt for the creature's head. As the second pincer races to intercept him, Armis opened up with his Stubcarbine, several solid slugs finding the weak joint in the pincer arms armour. The pincer fell as the joint severed and Armis landed on the side of its head, a metal talon buried in its armour. With a roar Armis plunged his fist through the insectoid eye and grabbed ahold of more fleshy matter within. The Deathstalker spasmed and let loose a high pitched squeal. Armis ripped out his hand, pulling loose a gooey mass of black flesh. The giant scorpion Grimm froze instantly and collapsed, already beginning to disintegrate. Blood and viscera hissing and evaporating along his arm, Armis jumped off the monster's corpse. Bracing his knees, he tried to land as comfortably as possible for Ruby. She looked very pale, her Aura having failed to prevent such blood loss from affecting her.

"Stay with me Red Reaper." Armis whispered.

Armis sprinted out of the forest, heading into Vale.

* * *

"Hospital! Where!"

The gargling citizen pointed down the road, to the glowing red cross sign. Armis held him up by the neck with a bloodied hand, but quickly released him, and sprinted for the hospital.

People screamed and gasped as he ran past them. He would usually have been more cautious with revealing his appearance, but hopped up on combat drugs and with time running out, Armis didn't care. Blood dripped out of a pair of his hands and from Ruby's stump as he ran. He briefly recognised a civilian recording him on a camera, but his mind forgot it the instant he burst through the double hospital doors.

The receptionist screamed in surprise and then tried to flee in terror from the many armed monster with red eyes and bloody hands. Like lightning, one of Armis' hands reached over the counter she was manning and grabbed hold of her throat, holding her face close to his.

"Operating room! Where?"

Again, the woman could only gurgle and point down the hallway.

Armis instantly ran in the direction she indicated. Ruby was looking even paler than before and her breathing was shallow. It reassured him slightly that he could feel her heart beating through his synskin. But it was weak.

He slammed open the doors to see a team of apothecaries all dressed for an operation. One of them, Armis assumed was the head apothecary, was in the process of removing his gloves. His white mouthpiece hung at his neck as his eyes bulged at Armis' arrival. Several other of his team all gasped in horror and fear of this thing that had entered the room.

"What are you doing in here! We have just finished a-" He shouted, but only just seemed to notice the one armed girl in this strangers embrace. "Oh my god is that-?"

Armis held Ruby out to the man, desperation in his eyes. The combat drugs in his system were messing with his head and words struggled to form sentences.

"Bleeding, Grimm, Help, Ruby, Severed, Pale, Help, Blood, Ruby, Help!" Armis babbled, his hands and arms all shaking and shivering.

Luckily this apothecary was able to understand the gist of what he had said. He snapped into action, mask and gloves back on and ready.

"Everyone prep for surgery, now!" He indicated to Armis. "Lie the girl down on the table and then leave. This will be a critical operation."

Armis instantly did as he was told, putting Ruby onto the table, but he hesitated when he reached the door, looking back as the apothecaries surrounded Ruby, staunching the flow of blood from her severed arm. He lingered a second longer before leaving. Outside was a sort of waiting room, a set of three chairs were opposite the door. He sat upon the centre seat and put his hands on his head. All he could do now was wait. He did not have to wait long.

A surgeon exited the surgery room and looked straight at Armis. His head snapped up and stared straight at the woman, who flinched and avoided his gaze. She was obviously scared of whatever this man was. Armis wanted to ask why she was not in the surgery room, how Ruby was or if there was anything, anything he could do. But it only came out as a questioning grunt. The woman looked at him, in shame and fear. She didn't know what this man would do when he heard the news.

"We've been able to staunch the bleeding and stabilize her for now, but she has lost a lot of blood. Too much blood. She needs a transfusion." The surgeon finally answered.

Armis' fists all clenched in union and he gritted his teeth. "Blood." Armis growled.

The woman let out a small yelp, but tried to recover. "Y-Y-Yes she needs blood. But after finding her previous medical records, Miss Rose has a type O negative blood type. And… And…"

Armis growled again menacingly, getting up from his chair, to tower over the woman.

"We don't have any matching blood types!" She quickly squealed. "W-We need to know if she had any relatives of matching blood types nearby."

The clocks in Armis' drug addled head turned and clicked. He didn't know any of Ruby's relatives. He knew of some of Ruby's team nearby, but he did not know their blood types or where they were now. How fast would he need to run to find the correct person in time? It would all take too long. Ruby had minutes to live from the amount of blood she lost. He head his head in a pair of hands and shook it, trying to think, trying to find a solution. Armis froze as the Frenzon clouds of his mind parted for a moment of clarity. A solution hit him. His arms went limp at his sides and he looked at the surgeon.

"Positive." He grunted, holding up his less pale, original arm.

"O positive? That... " She hesitated. Only in extreme circumstances could O positive be used as a substitute for O negative. But she knew just as well as Armis did, how little time Miss Rose had. "Will have to do. Follow me."

* * *

"Inquisitor."

"What is it?"

"Mission successful. All threats eliminated."

Ethereal voices whispered inside her head. She could feel them echoing through her mind. For a moment she felt lost, no recollection of who she was, no name, no relations, no meaning. But as a flood it came back to her, and Ruby opened her eyes. She almost panicked as she saw herself surrounded by metal walls, but as she turned around, Ruby saw that this was someone's office. A desk, filled with numerous papers and forms, computer screens and a small cup. It briefly reminded her of Ozpin's desk, except everything was so much more dull. The papers were a brown parchment and the desk and floor were the same blackened metal of the walls. But soon the two people in the room with her revealed themselves, coming into focus. One was definitely Armis, his signature cloak hiding his body completely. He was standing just in front of the blast door entrance. The other was a older man. He wore a dark fatigues and barely seemed to register Armis as a presence in the room. He simply continues to write something on a piece of parchment.

"Good." He spoke. "Dismissed."

Armis immediately turned and walked out the door. Ruby went to follow him, but the blast doors slammed shut and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reopen them. Resigning her efforts, Ruby turned back to what she assumed was the dreaded Inquisitor Armis had talked about. Walking to the front of the desk, content in the knowledge that she couldn't be seen in these dreams, she got a better look at the inquisitor's face. His head was shaven, similar to Armis', and his jawline was covered in a rough coating of black stubble. His throat was the most curious of his features. It was completely made of metal. A deep scar running from his cheekbone and down to his chin, made Ruby assume that something big, Urza big, had cut into his face.

As Ruby looked down at the parchment that he was writing on, the inquisitor suddenly stopped writing, the scribbling sounds halting, his pen hovering over the paper. Ruby ignored it and tried to read the strange script. It was similar to the writing on Armis' crate.

"What are you?" came an unexpected growl.

Ruby looked up to see the Inquisitor staring directly into her eyes. A second of silence passed, before Ruby shrieked in shock and jumped backwards.

"You can see me?" Ruby asked as she tried to recover.

The Inquisitor continued to stare at her. He remained seated but did nothing physically. But Ruby instantly felt the pressure in the room increase and she felt something envelope her body, threatening to crush her.

"I'll ask again." The Inquisitor said, as Ruby was lifted into the air and in front of the desk. "What are you?"

"AHHHH!" Ruby gasped in pain. "My name is Ruby Rose, a Huntress from Beacon!"

A few memories with Armis came to her mind, and reminded her of the Imperium.

"I mean, I'm from the planet of Remnant, I'm just a human."

The inquisitor chuckled darkly. "Oh really? So how do you explain, 'just a human' a little girl, breaking through several of the Geller and Psychic Null fields surrounding this ship and getting a Astral projection onto this ship?"

"I- I- I don't know." Ruby stammered.

"And what is the sector designation of this planet Remnant? Or is it Beacon? You don't seem so sure." The Inquisitor asked, a smile of malice accompanying the question.

"I don't know?" Ruby repeated.

The Inquisitor sighed. "You would think by now Xenos would come up with better excuses."

Ruby felt an itching in her mind and a feeling that she was missing something. The itching steadily increased and it felt like she would lose her mind if she did not scratch.

"No psychic defenses too? This is just insulting." The Inquisitor said.

Ruby saw the man's eyes glaze over, and she realised that whoever this guy was, he had just read her mind. The Inquisitor's eyes snapped open and Ruby felt the forces holding her instantly release and drop her to the floor. She staggered slightly, but recovered.

"It appears that I have misjudged you Miss Rose of Beacon and Remnant. You have my apologies."

"Errm it's ok…" Ruby said slowly, unsure of herself. "Can you please explain to me what's going on? I keep having these dreams, but then now people can see me in my dreams, and they're always so horrible and mean and Armis is always involved and-"

"Hold child. You said his name."

"What? Armis?"

"Aye. How do you know that name?" The inquisitor asked.

"I thought you just read my mind? Shouldn't you know already?"

"Only briefly, and about what I wanted to know. After finding you told the truth, I had no reason to look deeper. It's as an unpleasant experience for me, as it is for you."

"Oh… Well Armis is my friend who came to Beacon recently."

"Don't lie to me girl!" The Inquisitor stood up suddenly. "I may have refrained from doing so now, but I will not hold back on reading you mind fully. And it will be a thousand times worse than before."

"I swear! It's the truth! Armis is now a student at Beacon, an academy for Huntsman and Huntresses." Ruby pleaded.

"Armis is an inquisitorial operative on this very ship! He only just left my office scant minutes ago!"

"Well, now he is. For you. But with me, he is at Beacon."

"Explain. I'm losing patience." The inquisitor growled.

Ruby flinched away from the man's voice as it echoed through the chamber.

"I... I think my dreams are of the past." Ruby took a sudden interest in the floor. "And I think that i'm in one of those dreams now."

The Inquisitor sat back down suddenly, the chair groaning at the sudden weight. He stayed silent for a moment, pondering.

"What does Armis look like?" He asked.

"He always wears a cloak and rarely takes it off." Ruby said hesitantly. "I'm not sure Armis would like me to say what he looks like underneath.

"Don't be foolish girl. Im his Inquisitor. I know. But do you?" The inquisitor pointed at her.

Ruby sighed, but answered hesitantly. "He has twelve arms."

"And are some of them different from the rest?" The Inquisitor pushed.

"Two of his arms are less pale than the others, his original set, and another two are artificial, mechanical talons."

"What colour are his eyes?"

"Brown."

The Inquisitor smiled. Victory seemed to reflect in his eyes. "Oh really? I always thought he had red eyes?"

"He wears contact lenses to make them appear red." Ruby smiled back triumphantly. 'The Inquisitor was trying to catch her out.'

The man in question blinked several times, surprised at something.

"And he told you this?"

"Yes, of course."

He chuckled and murmured under his breath. "Always wanting to be normal, ay Armis?"

"What was that?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing. Apologies for the questions. I just had to be sure."

"Sure of what?"

The Inquisitor paused long enough to retrieve a bottle of something from under his desk and pour himself a drink.

"You have a psychic gift that exceedingly few have. You can Past Walk." When Ruby indicted her confusion, the Inquisitor continued. "Also known as Warp Hindsight, you can look back at someone's past in dreams. It explains why you can get through the psychic defences on my ship. Technically they don't exist for you. It is a very powerful, very dangerous gift."

"Why is it so powerful?" Ruby gulped. "And… Dangerous?"

"There is a saying." The Inquisitor spoke. "Knowledge is Power. Guard it well."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you, Miss Rose, can look into a person's past. Find out their hidden true personality, how they act when they're all alone and their darkest secrets. You can find out what no other can. And that makes you powerful, especially if you can use that knowledge for your own benefit. Dangerous, because your power and the knowledge it can gain, is highly sought after. Many would kill and torture entire worlds just for a chance of securing the services of someone with Warp Hindsight."

"Oh."

"So you are friends with Armis? He is your ally?"

"Yes?"

"What is he like now?" The Inquisitor suddenly asked. He seemed to be very interested in this.

Ruby pondered the question. "He's… different. Its as though he has so many emotions locked up inside of him that he doesn't know what to do with. He can be cool and calm one moment, and then work himself into a fury the next. He's extremely mindful of those who see his real form, usually using his cloak to hide himself."

"You must be pretty special to him if he revealed himself to you." The Inquisitor commented.

"Wh- What?" Ruby blushed deeply. "You think so?"

"Considering he has so far killed half a dozen of my crew who tried to take that cloak off him, yes I do." The Inquisitor said.

Ruby snapped out of her blush pretty quickly after that.

"So he found a way to regain his emotions. Excellent." The Inquisitor mused. "What about his fighting skills? How does he compare to the hunters of Beacon?"

"He's defeated most of us in single combat. He beat eight of us in an arena fight, which included a four time tournament champion and her team."

"Good. Good. Wait most of us?" The inquisitor asked.

Ruby looked embarrassed. "I kind of beat him once."

The man chuckled. "No wonder he likes you."

Ruby blushed again.

"So. What would you like to know?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow at him, confused. "What do you mean?

"You are Armis' ally. Helping you will also help him."

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders and twiddled her index fingers around one another, awkwardly. "Something about Armis' past? I want to know why he's like… like he is now."

The Inquisitor pondered the question. "Would you like to know how and why he was made?"

"I already saw how he was made in a dream." Ruby shuddered at the memory.

"But do you know why he was made?"

Ruby shook her head. The inquisitor leant back in his chair.

"He was made to replace me." He laughed solemnly. "And to help bring tolerance for abhuman's into the inquisition. Armis is a product of imperial science and is technically completely human. So therefore technically he must be accepted as a legal inquisitor if I were to vouch for him. But he needed to be trained and made better so he could soar high above the rest. Anything less and he would be looked down upon by my fellow inquisitors, as 'just another filthy abhuman'"

"Why do you want to help abhuman's?" Ruby asked. "Even Armis is reluctant to trust abhuman's from Remnant and he say's that the Imperium is worse."

"My wife was abhuman. A Felinid. No one but the Magos stationed on this ship knows, as he was the priest who married us. She was also one of my operatives, but was mistreated by all of the humans aboard this ship."

"Couldn't you stop them from harassing her?" Ruby questioned. "You're THE Inquisitor! Don't you have that power?"

"And jeopardise my reputation? No, my authority stems from my reputation as a Puritan inquisitor, and my wife knew so as well. So we created a plan. Armis. We would create a human who appeared abhuman, but was not legally bound as a abhuman. A compromise. If we could get the crew and the wider inquisition to accept him as a inquisitor then they would perhaps accept other abhuman's such as Armis and my wife, who served the imperium just as faithfully. As any human."

The Inquisitor paused for a moment.

"Look at me Miss Rose."

Ruby obeyed and looked into the Inquisitor's eyes. Looking at his face and his features. Other than the scars and his throat, they seemed familiar somehow.

"What does Armis' face look like? His features?" He asked.

Ruby thought back to when she had last saw Armis.

"He kinda looks a lot like…" Ruby mumbled in thought but suddenly snapped back to reality at the realisation and stared at the Inquisitor in shock.

"Your his father." Ruby stated.

The Inquisitor held out his hands, like he was admitting to something.

"Correct."

"Why do such horrible things to your own son!" Ruby shouted at the man, rage filling her voice.

"Because it fulfilled the goals of both myself and that of my wife's." The Inquisitor replied. "She wanted a son with me, but knew that such a child would be mistreated, mutated and weak as well as perhaps killed, especially if it were conceived with me. So she instead wanted the Inquisition to change, to suit her future son. I however, wanted both my wife to be happy and also to have a successor who would surpass me. I am a firm believer that harsh treatment under the guidance of a great man in life's earlier stages will breed a man even greater still. If I had lavished him in the knowledge that a Lord Inquisitor was his father and gave him everything he wanted and more, he would become cruel, fat and vain on such power bestowed upon him, as a reward for doing nothing more than being my son."

Ruby grew disgusted at this man's twisted logic. He was so calm and calculating, but so... insane. Psychopathic even.

"Has it succeeded in any of that! Is your wife happy now!?" Ruby raged on at him.

"She is dead. Death claimed her in the same swipe that scared my face and tore out my throat." The Inquisitor tapped against the metal plating under his chin. "This was just before I was to retrieve Armis and ready him for life as an Inquisitorial operative. And no. It has not succeeded in her goals. The Inquisition is still as puritan as it has always been. Not a single change. Whether it has succeeded in my goals however, is yet to be seen."

"To me, Armis is a better man than you could ever be!" Ruby shouted, clenching her fists.

"Then perhaps that is enough. Help him however you can. I believe he will be needing it." The inquisitor took another sip from his glass. "When you see him, it is upto you if he should know about his past and your powers. If you do, tell him that he is a true disappointment to the inquisition, and brings shame to the Imperium's most holy organisation."

Ruby looked at him, horrified at what he would say to his own son, and that she would be the messenger.

"And for that his mother and I are proud of what he is becoming."

Ruby blinked in shock and the Inquisitor chuckled, downing the rest of his glass.

"Either way, your time has ran out, just like my patience. Begone!"

He pushed forwards with his free hand and a blast of force made Ruby fly backwards. Passing through walls, through people in her path and out into space. Darkness once again claimed her and her dream came to a close.

* * *

Armis did not care how much blood had to flow from his veins to Ruby's. Only that it did, and it would help save her life. He sat at a chair by her side, one arm outstretched and connected by a once empty and translucent tube, now full and red. He gazed down at the girl, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully in her bed. The same group of apothecaries, or surgeons as they called themselves, surrounded them, hoping for the best. They told him how the amount of blood he needed to give would make him feel lightheaded and perhaps nauseous, but he knew that wouldn't be the case.

Armis should perhaps be satisfied that he would be saving Ruby's life. But all he felt was hollow. Coming off the high of combat drugs, his mind fell into a short depression. What had he saved? Ruby would wake up to find that her life as a huntress was ended. She would be crippled for life. He had been able to convey a question on this planet's use of bionics. All he had gotten were confused stares and silence. Bionics here seemed to be either shunned or not in public knowledge. What would Ruby do for the rest of her life? Her beloved two handed scythe would fall into disuse, her skill at making and tinkering with weapons would rust and she would spend the rest of her life at home. Safe, true. But not happy. And as the years would pass by, hatred would fester and grow for the one who had succeeded in saving her life, but failed in helping her livelihood. Her real life as a huntress.

Armis sighed and tried to calm his mind, shaking his head. He could not change the past. He would find a way to help Ruby, whatever it takes. It was now his responsibility. He once again renewed the promise to himself that he would always protect and take care of Ruby Rose. Glancing down at the girl in question, her skin had returned to its natural colour and her breathing was steady. If he concentrated, he could even hear her heart beating just as steadily.

'Well at least there's that.' Armis thought.

He looked at the severed stump in her arm. It reminded him of himself when he had his arms severed. Well, less severed and more torn off. There was perhaps a twisted sense of humour to the fact that her arm, now bandaged, looked similar to when his own arms were treated by the Inquisitor's apothecary. Armis looked and a dark chuckle almost escaped his lips.

'Ruby's arm and my arms were even severed in the same place.'

Armis mind jumped at the realisation. He looked at to his side at the his wounded arm, his bionic limb hanging there lifelessly. His head snapping up to the surgeons around him, the woman from before noticing his strange behaviour.

He grunted at her. "Scalpel."

* * *

 _ **What does Armis have in mind? And is he truly thinking straight? What was the force that led him to Ruby? How come no one seems to know about bionics, when Armis knows that a huntsman names Mercury has them, and perhaps a certain General as well.**_

 _ **I feel like I've stretched 40k lore to its limit at this point. Apologies if something doesn't make sense. Or goes against some unbreakable law in the lore (ha). If anything needs to be cleared up that please let me know so I can explain, or edit into this chapter.**_

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: The reason for Armis' creation is revealed to Ruby by his own gene father, while she is suffering from severe blood loss. Armis is substituting his blood to compensate, but how will Ruby continue along her path to become a Huntress, when she is missing an arm?**_

 _ **Shashenka: Their reaction may not be as enthusiastic as you might hope. Read on.**_

 _ **Nemris: Glad I can keep you on your toes. Your probably right, perhaps Armis' brush with those Khorne cultists took more than a pair of his arms...**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

Yang had never felt so helpless. Her eyes shrank to pinpricks, reflecting the insane fear dawning in her mind. At her father's words, she had never felt so fearful and afraid. Her two companions, Blake and Weiss turned to her, questions of confusion and concern on their lips. Yang dropped the phone scroll from her shaking grip and it clattered to the floor. The city of Vale had offered them a day of relaxation away from their leader, but with the flip of a coin, it had turned into an obstacle for her to bypass. Or destroy. A second later she exploded off the ground and jumping high onto the nearby roof, fire trailing behind her. Her hair was shining gold and her eyes were a burning red as her semblance activated and propelled her forwards. Faster and faster, charging forward as quickly as her body would allow, legs straining and arms pumping at her sides. The roofs of Vale shook and crumbled at her footsteps and the stonework was burnt black at Yang's passing as she leapt again, her eyes darting across the horizon, searching.

"Yang! What's wrong?" Came a call from behind her.

Her teammates were following her, but she couldn't tell who spoke. She was too distracted. The glowing red cross of the hospital was like a target in the distance and as Yang landed, stone and roof tiles crumbled beneath her, she switched direction in an instant.

"Yang!" Came another cry, the voice trailing off as the distance between them widened.

Her father, Taiyang, had called her to deliver the dire news. Ruby had been in a Grimm attack and had been maimed badly. She had tried to reply, tried to explain how that couldn't have happened. That was impossible. Ruby wasn't anywhere near any sort of Grimm. She was at the Vytal Festival Fairground on a date.

His words played in her head again; "The damn beasts cut off her arm! She's in the East Vale Hospital. Get there and keep Ruby safe!"

Yang could tell even through the phone that her dad was just had scared as she was. But it seemed the Xaio Long family had a habit of turning most negative emotions into anger. That's what she was thinking now. Ruby shouldn't have been anywhere near any Grimm. She was on a date. With Armis. Armis. The thought quickly ran its course and another burst of flames ignited across her body as another leap took her down onto the streets of Vale, the hospital just down the road.

'Armis was with her. So why is Ruby hurt. How could Ruby be hurt!? The only way that could possibly happen is if...' Yang growled to herself, as she sprinted down the road, scattering crowds like bowling pins. "If she was alone."

She felt the presence of Blake and Weiss falling behind her, struggling to catch up and calling her name, but she pushed on. Skidding to a halt outside the hospital, two black lines scorched into the ground, similar to tire burns across pavement. Yang charged into the hospital and smashed open the doors, her teammates a few seconds behind.

"Where is Ruby?!" She roared.

* * *

Waiting again. He couldn't stand it. Those not experienced in war or combat always underestimated how much time was actually spent out of the fight. Sure, some wars would last for months and years. But before every fight, every battle, there was always that unnerving wait. The planning, the briefing, gearing up, waiting to be transported, being transported. The fighting would pass in the blink of an eye and then it was time for rest and then the cycle started again. Those hours not actually fighting, yet so close to the war, was where the doubts set in, the feelings of helplessness and despair griped your body and the demons began to whisper. That's how Armis felt sitting in the waiting room of this accursed hospital.

'He needed to be doing something!'

'What could he possibly do to help? There was nothing for him to do.'

'He had done all he could.'

'But had he really? Was there something he'd missed?'

'He should be out hunting those who did this! Avenge her.'

'But she needs me here doesn't she?'

'Are you sure she even wants to see you after what you've done? After you failed to protect her.'

The debate went on and on until Armis could barely think about anything else. His mind was suddenly broken out of it's trance, when he heard a baby crying close to him and he looked up. Around him a few others sat and waited. Men and women all stared back at him, fear in their eyes. An empty space of terror had stretched across the room separating him from the others. They had all moved to the opposite side of the room when he had arrived and sat against the chairs facing the door. Armis couldn't really blame them. He was a mess. Bloody hands were caked in drying blood and his torn clothes still hung from his body, equally soaked in red.

The many armed man sighed again. He would stay here. He needed to know the moment Ruby was awake to see if she had accepted the surgery or her body had rejected it.

Armis heard the doors slam open and his head snapped up to see Yang, hair and eyes burning.

"Where's Ruby?!"

Armis stood up and put himself in between Yang and the entrance to the surgery. She instantly spotted him and strode forwards, fists clenched. Armis could see the floor blackening at her footsteps.

"Surgery." Armis mumbled. "Safe."

Combat drugs still restricted some of his cognitive functions. Once, he had considered it a negligible side effect. He had rarely talked in his old line of work anyway. But right now he was in real need for more words to explain the situation.

"Safe?! You call being crippled by Grimm safe?!" Yang shouted and continued to advance on him. "Get out of my way, I need to see her."

She aimed to pass Armis by, but was stopped abruptly. A bloodied hand pushed against her chest, small scuff marks of red flaking off his skin and onto her and her jacket. Yang looked up and glared flaming daggers at Armis.

"Can't. Surgery." Was all the response she got.

"Get out of my way Armis." Yang growled at him, grabbing his arm and shrugging him off.

However, the instant she got past that one arm, another had taken its place, holding her back. The two stared at each other. Neither would budge, each having equal reason to stand their ground. Both were red eyed, but the expression on each's face was different. Armis was determined, but there was a pleading in his eyes, iris' slightly wider than normal. His many fingers were twitching and his mind screamed for the inevitable conflict. But he held his murderous and drug fuelled instincts in check, trying his best to mumble apologies and adopt a non-aggressive posture. Yang however, did not listen or pay attention to his movements. Her eyes burned with barely surprised rage, a flicker of sisterly concern dancing behind her pupils. Her knuckles were white, small red marks imprinting themselves on her palms, as she squeezed her hands into tight fists. She may not have known it, but her fighting instincts had already kicked in. She took a small step back with her right foot, her teeth clenched and her aura flared.

A silence fell over the hospital waiting room. Its occupants holding their breath and stared at the two monsters within their midst. A mother took a single step towards the exit, her baby, recently consoled, dropping its rattle. The tiny beads shaking around may as well have been an avalanche of boulders.

The clatter of noise was followed by a series of mechanical clicks and Yang roared as Ember Celica extended over her wrist. She cocked back her fist, throwing the first punch. Half a dozen left hands all moved in unison creating an overlapping barrier, catching Yang's fist. The following shotgun blast was absorbed by Armis' artificial palm, flames singeing the metal, as its talons enveloped her own. Her left fist shot out a moment later, stopped again by five hands on Armis' right. But this time there was no hard metallic surface to take the blow. A second click and Armis cried out in pain, Ember Celica's fiery blast seared into his flesh, a single middle finger broken. The combat drugs helpful benefit of pain numbing, very obviously having worn off.

There was a scream from one of the people in the waiting room and as one they began storming towards the exit. Yang swung again with a left hook, but Armis jumped backwards, one of the eleven other hands, clutching the burning skin of his wounded one.

"Let me through!" Yang shouted. "I don't wanna hurt you Armis, but I will if you stay in my way."

Armis grunted and shook his head.

"Can't."

He flexed and shook his burnt hand, wincing slightly. Like a spider, his arms all spread out around him and he stood his ground, waiting. Yang leapt at Armis again, swinging a fist, just as the hospital doors exploded open once again.

"Yang!" Blake called out concerned, but was ignored by both combatants.

With a precise tap against the top of her hand, Armis deflected the punch and drifted past Yang. Seeking to immobilize, not incapacitate, half a dozen arms wrapped around Yang. With two hands to each of her arms and another two circling her throat and face, Armis tightened his grip with a snap. Yang struggled and fought, but the more she did so, the harder Armis squeezed. She couldn't breath, her eyes were rolling into the back of her head. Her anger reached its peek at her failure to break free and a sizzling and popping sound could be heard. Armis gritted his teeth as Yang's hair set ablaze and pushed up against his chest, burning away at Synskin and into his true skin. But he would not let go. He roared again as he felt a rapier pierce one of his shoulders. Weiss and Blake had arrived to aid their teammate.

* * *

Blake couldn't believe it. Everything had seemed to be going so well. Ruby was on a date and was apparently, according to team JNPR, having a good time. The rest of team RWBY kept their word to leave them alone and had decided to walk around Vale to see if there were any other events for the Vytal festival. But in an instant it had turned from friendly banter and shopping, to a mad dash and a bloody fight. Yang had instantly activated her semblance and rushed for the hospital. They could barely catch up and it had been Weiss who was the next person to find the reason. Her scroll had lit up explaining how Ruby had been hospitalized and the two had ran all the harder, understanding Yang's worry. But now for some reason Armis was fighting Yang.

The many-armed man was completely revealed, no cloak to cover his appearance. The sheer abnormality of his appearance had never been so prominent. Blake had only seen his true form for moments and at a distance. But something seemed wrong. Her Faunus eyes could see his pupils dilating, as though he was high on narcotics. Seeing Armis holding all of his arms out, she could see that some of his fingers twitching and randomly clenching into fists. Teeth gritted and muscles straining, Blake realized that he was also covered in blood. A couple of his hands were coated in the stuff and another was blackened with burns. The strangest however was the fact that he was missing an arm. His right metal arm was gone and only a small bandaged stump remained in its place. It seemed that Armis had been wounded just as much as Ruby had.

She tried calling out to Yang, but she was ignored. Blake didn't know what to do. Why would Armis restrain her like that? What had she done? What was Armis' intentions? But her decision was made for her when Weiss charged forwards.

"Unhand her you savage!" She shouted, stabbing Myrtenaster into Armis' shoulder.

She retracted the blade out of Armis and aimed to stab again, but like lightning, one of Armis' hands whipped out and backhanded the rapier out of her hands, while another gripped her wrist. Pulled in close, two more hands grabbed around her other arm and her throat, locking her in place. Blake jumped towards him to try to intervene, unwilling to unsheathe the Gambol Shroud. But Armis was watching for her, and his remaining two hands intercepted her own and restrained her. A pitched battle of strength and endurance erupted, a messy struggle with no sort of finesse or chivalry. Armis held each of the three girls in his grip, and as they struggled, pushed and pulled against him, he only gripped tighter.

Yang could barely see anymore, the life being choked from her. She swung an elbow backwards on instinct alone and caught Armis in the side, crushing into his arm stump. The bandaged quickly reddened and blood began dripping to the floor. Weiss too was beginning to lose consciousness, but she continued to struggle. She couldn't move her arms, but a sharp kick crunched into her captors kneecap. Armis' face contorted in agony as his wounds reopened and his leg buckled. He dropped to one knee and brought the rest of his opponents down with him.

Perhaps the pain reignited the frenzied rage within him, as Blake saw his burnt hand switch from Yang's throat to hers, the rough sickly feeling across her skin causing her shiver. In an instant she felt the pressure, just as her teammates did. The crushing, relentless, unstoppable tightening, like a noose around her neck. Each hoarsely screamed and choked, their struggles becoming sloppy and their strength fading.

It looked to be the end, if the surgery door had not opened and a female surgeon had not appeared in the doorway. Armis' head snapped up and quickly released Yang, Blake and Weiss. Three gasps of sweet relief allowed oxygen to begin circulating again. Armis took a step forward and looked to the woman expectantly. She had a smile on her face and opened her mouth to speak, but not before Yang, still groggy, turned around and with aura pulsing, delivered a bone shattering punch straight into Armis' gut.

"You bastard!" She screamed.

In a blast of red, he was hurled against the wall behind him, cracks and fissures now adorning its surface. He bounced off the wall and went onto his knees, coughing up blood to stain the floor. Armis could feel a rib, maybe even two, piercing his lung. Yang charged him and grabbed him by his throat, lifting him off the ground. Yang, too enraged and oxygen deprived to think straight, raised her other fist. He tried to move, but that last attack had done a real number on him. He coughed again; blood and bile dribbling down his chin and onto Yang's arm. She flinched seeing so much blood and lowered her fist, seeing the damage she had already caused.

Her eyes flashed back to violet, hearing the thing she needed to hear the most.

"Yang!" Ruby called.

The three members of team RWBY all turned around to see the girl with the same name lying in a hospital bed, with a look of concern and worry on her face. They instantly regained all strength lost from their fight and quickly ran to be at their leader's side. Yang dropped Armis who slumped to the floor. The surgeon who had opened the door ran past the team and attended to him.

The girls all gathered around Ruby. She was lying down on the bed, white sheets covering up to her lower chest. Yang, being the only one having the knowledge that Ruby had lost her right arm, raised a hand to cover her mouth, tears in her eyes. She could see bandages all along her sister's shoulder and down her arm. There was even a small circle of reddening higher up in the bandages.

'Another wound in her shoulder?' Yang thought.

The bandages disappeared under her bed sheets, she assumed to hide the sight of a missing arm from loved ones.

Her teammates all noticed her distress.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked.

"Ruby was in a Grimm attack. And… And... a Deathstalker cut off her arm." Yang's voice became barely audible as the sentence finished.

Her two friends faces all changes rapidly in shock and stared at Ruby and at where her lower arm was hidden by the bed sheets. Tears burst from Yang's eyes as she grabbed her sister and wrapped her arms around Ruby.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you Ruby. I'm so, so sorry."

Blake and Weiss both were brought to tears as well. They felt just as protective of their team leader as Yang. But strangely Ruby only frowned and looked at them strangely, and then looked to her right side. Weiss noticed her expression first and followed her gaze.

"Yang, that's not funny." Weiss stated matter-of-factly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"What?" Yang sobbed looking up from her sister.

"You said Ruby had her arm cut off."

Blake noticed what Weiss had seen as well, and gasped.

"Yes, by Grimm!" Yang almost shouted. 'Why were they asking such stupid, painful questions?"

Ruby looked at her.

"Then why can I see my hand moving?" She asked.

Yang blinked in surprise and stood up. True to her sister's words and to the disbelief of their teammates, she could see the bed sheets moving, where her right hand should be. It was as though a finger was tapping up against the fabric.

"Oh my god. But how?" Yang exclaimed.

"I don't know. I can't feel anything. But it's still moving." Ruby answered.

"Can you sit up?" Weiss asked.

"I think so. I can't really feel or see much at the moment. I'm still woozy from the painkillers they gave me."

With the help of her friends and after finding the controls that allowed the bed to rise, Ruby was able to lean back against the bed like a chair, her arm still hidden.

"Can you lift your right arm? Out from the bed sheets." Yang asked.

"O-ok..." Ruby's voice wavered.

"You don't have to if you don't want too. Just take it slow for now." Weiss tried to reassure her.

"It's... Ok. It's just that... I remember my arm being cut off. I remember the pain and fear in that moment." Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't know what it will look like. Or how I'll react."

"It's ok Rubes. We're here for you."

"You're still the same Ruby we've always known."

"And nothing will ever change that."

She smiled at them, her heart fluttering as their words reassured her. Having regained some confidence, Ruby slowly, carefully, lifted her arm out from under the covers.

At first all they saw was more bandages. The bed sheets must have caught on something as they snagged her arm and continued to hide it. Ruby grimaced and pulled harder. With a sudden tear, the bed sheets split into tatters as metal talons sliced through them. Ruby yelped in shock and her teammates eyes bulged and their mouths flew open. Metal shone and gleamed, servos hissed and pistons stretched. Razor claws twitched and clenched, titanium knuckles clicked and rotated. Ruby's upper arm was still covered in bandages but below that was circular metal plates that made up her new forearm, and three wicked looking talons and a hooked thumb.

"Isn't that arm..?" Weiss started.

"Armis'." Blake confirmed.

Ruby and Yang continued to look at the hand in absolute shock. Ruby reached out to touch it with her other hand, a soft clink sounding off as she flicked it.

"No way..." Yang whispered, her finger tracing over the metal surface of Armis', now Ruby's, artificial arm.

She yelped in surprise as she cut her hand on one of the talons razor edges.

"No way!" Ruby shouted in joy, almost jumping out of her bed. "Ow!"

A splinter of pain went down her arm. A doctor who no one had noticed enter the room quickly made his way to her side, gently moving Yang aside.

"How are you feeling Miss Rose?" He asked.

The doctor was a kindly older man. Some grey had made it into his black hair and the features of youth were rapidly disappearing from his face, but he did not seem to lose any of the spring in his step. As he talked, he performed some rudimentary checks over Ruby.

"I'm... Feeling pretty good at the moment." Ruby smiled through a wince. "A bit dizzy and numb all over though. Except for that bit of pain in my arm."

"The dizziness and feelings of numbness is completely normal. It's just a side effect of the medication you are on. Those pains in your arm are also, apparently normal." The doctor explained.

Yang frowned at his last sentence. "Apparently? You mean you don't know?"

"I was told by the... multi-limbed gentleman, who brought Miss Rose into the hospital, that the spikes of pain are the artificial nerve fibers connecting themselves directly to the damaged nerve endings in her arm stump." The doctor ran a hand over his head. "Normally I wouldn't allow such an unknown operation take place in my operating room, but the boy was quite persuasive. Especially after supplying you with so much blood."

Ruby frowned and looked at the IV bag sending a red liquid into her left wrist. The bag was half full. Several other bags were to the side, small droplets of crimson dotting the translucent surface.

"This is Armis' blood?" She asked.

"Ah so that's his name!" The doctor nodded his head. "Young lady, you have a lot to thank that boy for. He gave you a second chance on life that not many people get. He even gave you that new arm currently attached to you."

"Seriously?!" Yang exclaimed.

"Indeed. I watched him remove it from his own body myself. Even bandaged the stump he made with my own two hands." The doctor suddenly frowned. "Pardon the pun."

Yang eyes widened in guilt and horror. Blake saw her teammates stress and tried to come to her aid.

"Why was he trying to stop us from entering then? He was stopping us from seeing Ruby!" She exclaimed.

"If what he says about this bionic arm is true, then it's a good job he did." The doctor replied, to Blake's frustration. "For the arm to properly sync up with its wearer's movements, Miss Rose needed to be as stable as possible during the whole process. Not just medically but emotionally. If you three had burst in here before now it's likely the biotic would have been rejected by her body, due to her emotional state of seeing you."

Yang and the girl's guilt promptly trebled.

"Hey guys! Hey!" Ruby shouted at them, getting their attention. "This isn't your fault. It was just a misunderstanding. Don't worry it's fine. My arm works, see?"

There was a slight pause, perhaps less than half of a second and Ruby waved her hand. The doctor's frown deepened.

"Miss Rose. Would you please close your eyes and clench your hand into a fist."

Ruby promptly did so.

"When I say, I want you to open your hand as fast as you can manage."

"Ok."

"Now."

A half of a second later, Ruby opened her hand. It wasn't much, but it was obvious when you were looking for it.

"Well the good news is that your new arm is functioning properly and has been accepted by your body. However the bad news is that your reaction time has about doubled when using that arm." The doctor told team RWBY.

They still all looked pretty worried.

"Don't worry, it's nothing major. I, however cannot give any more advice beyond not straining it for a day or two. Perhaps your friend Armis can help you in that respect."

"Oh yeah!" Ruby smiled. "Where is Armis by the way? Was he outside with you? I couldn't really see."

Yang, Blake and Weiss turned around and looked out the open door. All they could see was a fractured wall and a small trail of blood leading towards the waiting room.

* * *

'Ruby's sister sure does punch hard.' Armis thought as he coughed up some more blood into the bucket the hospital staff had provided for him. He had reassured them constantly that he would be fine and did not need any help healing. It was just gonna hurt. A lot. He could still feel a rib piercing his lung. That was the problem. His lungs couldn't heal if there was something in the way, and his rib couldn't reknit itself properly if it wasn't reconnected and straight.

Armis spat out all the blood in his mouth and took a huge pained breath. His lungs expanded rapidly, pushing his ribs back into place. With a pained grimace, he maintained his stance, until he was almost on the verge of unconscious. Finally he let out a breath. A torrent of built up blood threw up from his mouth and half filled the bucket. His ribs, already healing and sticking to its original place, retracted from out of his lung, which in turn began to seal itself. Armis sighed in relief and leaned back on the chair. His bloodstock filled much more quickly than normal people, but now, with the amount of loss in such a short space of time, he was beginning to feel the side effects. A pulsing headache and slight dizziness. He hoped it would pass soon.

With a flash of static, a holoscreen blurted to life on the wall opposite Armis. He hadn't noticed it before, but now with time to spare he paid more attention. And his heart skipped a beat, as dread gripped around it. It was emergency broadcast showing a video that was taken from a shaky and poor quality civilian mobile scroll, but Armis recognised what it was showing. It was him from perhaps over an hour ago, running through Vales streets. Armis could only watch as he lifted someone off the ground by the throat and shouted at them. There was no sound, so the broadcasts audience couldn't hear what he was saying, but they could also see the white skinned Ruby bleeding in his arms. His own hands were red, made even more prominent by how pale most of his hands were. Titles like; 'MONSTER OF VALE' and METZGER KILLER' flashed by.

Armis brought his many hands to his head and gripped hard, feeling his own skull almost bend at the crushing force.

'Damn damn damn! Emperor damn them!' Armis roared in his mind.

He had let his emotions get the best of him, in a drug fueled state and revealed himself. The Inquisitor's words of warning came back to him in a flash.

'I will not protect you if the Emperor's masses bay for your blood.' The Inquisitor had then placed a gauntleted hand on his shoulder; nowhere near as cold as the iron hard stare the man had leveled at him. 'The best defense for any threat is to simply not be seen to begin with. Do NOT be seen.'

The double doors to the hospital opened again and a man burst in with a large shoulder mounted camera, trained straight on Armis.

"We have just gotten live feed now." Armis heard the news broadcast announce, and a video of him staring back and forth between the camera and the holoscreen appeared.

'Oh no. No no no no.'

The Inquisitor's words once again came to mind. 'But if you were perhaps to be seen, and your presence becomes widely known. Kill all in your wake. And complete your mission.'

'Kill.'

One second. The after burn of Frenzon and Onslaught kicked in. Once suppressed by emotion and adrenaline, they now started taking over again, flowing through thinned blood.

'All.'

Two seconds, his hands reached for his weapons. A knife rose to his side and a stub carbine aimed at the cameraman's head.

'In your wake.'

A single finger twitched on the trigger, a bullet loaded and ready, hammer cocked.

"Armis!"

His eyes snapped around to see Ruby, a crutch in one hand, Yang supporting her other side. Concern etched across her face as she shook her head.

Armis pulled the trigger and fled the hospital, as a body and a smashed camera hit the ground. The holoscreen cut to static.

* * *

The East Vale hospital had never seen so much drama. And its doors certainly hadn't been built to withstand Aura strengthened huntsmen and women barging through constantly. As Armis slammed through them once more, the hinges finally giving way, creaking and landing with a crash across the pavement. Once again the many-armed man was stopped dead in his tracks. The Emperor's masses were waiting for him.

A huge crowd had gathered outside the hospital. Silence reined as Armis came into view. And then chaos ensued. Cameras flashed and people shouted. News reporters called for a better angle. Policemen called for him to drop his weapons, joined by the mechanical drone of their AI partners. Civilians screamed and ran from his appearance. Blood coated his hands, and dripped down his mouth and chin. It mixed with the black of his Synskin and the burns across his chest. A red, wet bandage to his right side twitched and moved. His skin across his arms and across his body was pale and for all to see. Armis Zwolf's appearance, the Imperial experiment, was public.

* * *

"He shot a cameraman." Glynda stated.

"He shot the camera." Ozpin rebuked.

"He shot a person Ozpin!"

The headmaster of Beacon Academy drained the last of his coffee and stood up suddenly, grabbing his cane.

"He shot the camera Glynda!" Ozpin repeated, with more force, although less conviction.

He picked up a scroll and hit a button.

'He better have just shot a camera.' Ozpin thought, but regained his composure as his call was picked up. "We need to meet."

"You're damn right we need to meet!" General Ironwood shouted.

* * *

"Cinder! You're gonna wanna see this!" Mercury called, looking up from doing routine checks over his artificial legs.

A shadow moved and Cinder approached the holoscreen.

"Well well. A new piece is on the board." She smiled sinisterly.

"That's the guy who attacked us!" Emerald exclaimed. "He's the guy with loads of arms!

Heavy booted footsteps sounded behind Cinder. Seraphim was watching just as intently as Cinder.

"That girl he carries was the one who intervened when we last fought outside the warehouse." She confirmed.

Cinder put a hand against her chin. The cogs in her mind whirred and clicked. Plans and plots. Ploys and counter ploys. She looked back at Seraphim, a knowing smile on her face.

"You may get your fight with this Metzger much sooner than you think."

"Glorious!" Seraphim said, returning Cinder's sadistic smile with one of mad joy.

Cinder turned back to the holoscreen.

"Oh Metzger. The plans I have in store for you."

* * *

 ** _Ruby's may have lost her arm, but now she has a shiny new Mechanicus approved one. I wonder what shenanigans she will get up too with this? Armis however, hasn't been as well treated for his efforts. Still suffering from the side effects of several dangerous Imperial combat drugs and beaten half to death, his biggest fears seemed to have been revealed. And what wicked webs shall Cinder weave with this new information?_**

 ** _Apologies if I got any medical procedures drastically wrong. Tried my best to research and present it as realistically as possible but please forgive any mistakes. For all you doctors out there, let me know if somethings a bit too unforgivable._**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: Armis' true appearance has been revealed to the public after he saved Ruby and grafted his taloned arm to replace the one she lost to Grimm. He has now fled once again to escape the eye of the crowds. But now that the public knows about Armis, so does Cinder.**_

 _ **goddragonking: Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you enjoy it so much!**_

 _ **Beaverlover98: Is it good? Is this chapter good? Would you say this is a 'GOOD' chapter? Is it GOOD? A GOOD chapter?**_

 _ **Emperor KingPerby: I LOVE IT TOO DUDE!**_

 _ **Nemris: Ha ha yeah definately. Might have been a bit more awkward. The tournament is right around the corner so we shall see. Armis may not have augmented legs but he's done enough running that their buff beyond belief.**_

 _ **Soldier01073: This is story speaking. Im not dead. Read me. *Drops mic***_

 _ **RaptousMaximus: Love all this support I'm getting from you! Really hope you stick with us. And your absolutely right about the plasma gun. Armis usually leaves it behind for the sole reason that it is too bulky. However he still keeps it because there are some things that need the extra firepower to take down. He usually struggles to take down larger monsters such as a Carnifex and Greater Daemons. Most of his weapons are solely anti infantry, and true heavy weapons such as lascannons etc are truly too bulky for him too carry. Whereas a plasma gun can still be mobile enough to be efficient.**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

"Why does he always run away?"

"Because he's a coward."

"Don't say that!"

"Then why did he run?"

Ruby didn't know how to answer that. All she wanted now was to find Armis and give him the biggest hug he had ever gotten in his entire life.

Firstly because of all he had done for her. Rescuing her from Grimm, donating both his blood and his artificial limb. Ruby flexed it now. Clenching and reclenching, opening and closing her hand one finger at a time. The doctor had made an educated guess that the arm needed to be worn in. Get used to her body so to speak and her to get used to the arm. It was a lot heavier than her last one, so at first she walked slightly to the left. But with each step her body compensated.

Secondly was the reason that he had ran. Armis had been caught on camera saving her, and now his appearance was public knowledge. The media had already began butchering his appearance. Monster of Vale, Human Grimm, Atlas Freak. Metzger was a blood mad killer who had maimed a girl and attacked civilians. They didn't know that that girl was her and Ruby blamed herself. He did everything to save her and this is how he was repaid.

And finally she needed to decide if she should tell him about her visions. She didn't know how he would react to her being a psyker, let alone the revelation that The Inquisitor was his biological father.

After Armis had shot that guy's camera from out of his hands and fled the hospital crowds, Ozpin had contacted the girls and asked for them to return to Beacon and their dorms. He had a plan to set this right. They had just arrived at their dorms now and had reached the top of the stairs.

'I guess we just have to trust him and hope that whatever he does will redeem Armis.'

"Rubes?"

Ruby snapped out of her stupor and looked at Yang, who was tapping her shoulder.

"Errr... What sorry?"

Yang pointed at the floor leading down towards their dorm room. There was a faint trail of blood staining the ground.

"That's never a good sign." Blake commented.

The team creeped down the hallway, eyes glued to the line of blood leading down the hall. It passed several rooms, passed theirs and team JNPR's room and ended at room C4. Armis' room. Ruby turned to her teammates.

"Guys could you-" She started.

"It's ok. Go see him." Yang put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her.

Blake and Weiss nodded their agreement.

"We'll be in our room if you need us."

Ruby smiled back at them and gave Yang a hug of thanks, before her team quickly went back into their room. She approached Armis dorm room and opened it without knocking. The hinges let out a small creak, as a small hint of rust was displaced.

"Leave." Came short sharp bark from inside. Armis' voice.

Ruby ignored it and entered into the room and shut the door behind her. Inside was only dimly lit, all the lights having been turned off, but the light of day still shone through the window. A window was wide open and cold air blew in, causing the room's temperature to drop significantly. Everything about the room was unsurprisingly spartan. It was identical in layout to her team's room, but was surprisingly spacious now that all but one of the beds had been removed. She could make out a standard student bed pressed up against the far right wall. A iron chain link was nailed into the wall above it. Ruby assumed that was where he hooked himself up to when he slept. On the other side of the room was a large desk with a number of notepads, pictures and documents lay, but she paid no attention to these things and focused on the one thing she was searching for. Sitting up against the centre wall was Armis himself. Completely hidden behind his recently retrieved cloak, small flecks of blood led up to where he now sat, knees bunched up to his chest.

"Leave me." Armis growled again.

Once again Ruby ignored him, and grew closer. With slow purposeful steps she walked across the room and then sat herself down next to him, sliding down the wall. The shadowy hood turned to look at her and a grunt issued from its dark confines. Armis shuffled away from her, looking away, brooding. Ruby frowned and shuffled towards him. The hood tilted in annoyance and was about to lift himself back up and shuffle again, but Ruby stopped him by grabbing hold of his cloak.

"You have a finite amount of wall you know." Ruby stated matter of factly.

Armis grunted, but relaxed against the wall again. His hood sunk and his red eyes disappeared from view. She didn't know when it happened, but Ruby wasn't really afraid of his eyes anymore. She wasn't afraid of Armis at all.

"How are you holding up?" Ruby asked.

There was a long silence before Armis replied, his voice seemed garbled slightly. As though he was unsure of what words were supposed to go where.

"Internal bleeding, broken fingers and ribs, severe burns, punctured lung, reduced cognitive functions, severed arm and loss of bionic replacement, appearance released to the public and humiliation in front of comrades."

"Will you heal?"

"From physical injuries."

Ruby looked at her feet guiltily. "Sorry I was so much trouble. I didn't mean for this to happen."

Armis remained silent, as Ruby leant her head against his shoulder.

"Even after all you did, all you sacrificed you got nothing but pain in return. You didn't ask for anything you just saved me. The doctor at the hospital told me that you didn't even hesitate to cut off your own arm. And that you would only let yourself be bandaged, after they had begun my surgery." Ruby raised her metal hand and admired how the small amount of sunlight in the room reflected off of it. "I have so much to thank you for and all I can say is how sorry am."

"It was worth it."

Ruby blinked in surprise and looked up into Armis' red eyes. The hood nodded at her, perhaps a gesture of acceptance or happiness, Ruby couldn't tell. All she knew was that it was a positive gesture. Ruby smiled from ear to ear and roped a arm around Armis' cloaked body and gave him a hug.

"Thank you. Thanks for everything. You saved me." Ruby chuckled lightly. "And then some."

Ruby felt Armis' arms stiffen at her closeness and his hood looked down and away from her. She retracted her hug to place her hands on her lap.

"Armis, look at me." Ruby said, the hood turning back to face her. "Take off your hood."

There was a moment's pause and then more hesitation as Armis slowly raised a hand from the folds of his cloak and slid down his hood. His shaven head became visible again, the features of the Inquisitor reminding her of Armis' origins. His eyes looked saddened and guilt ridden. It was as though he was ashamed to show his face.

"Armis you don't have to run away any more. I don't fear you. My team may not agree with you all the time, but they don't hate you."

"People hate." Armis grunted in reply.

"And?! Who cares what people think? This isn't the Imperium anymore Armis." Ruby tugged on his cloak. "No one is going to hunt you for what you are. People are scared right now, but they will get over it. Ozpin has a plan that is going to fix all this. He always does. And you trust Ozpin right?"

Armis' head slowly nodded and then questioned her. "Ozpin?"

"Yeah. All we have to do is wait for things to blow over. He'll find us when he needs us. He has a habit of doing that."

This seemed to satisfy Armis for the moment and he leaned his head back, a soft thud echoing around the room as the back of his head tapped the wall. He remained there for a while and Ruby leaned her head against Armis' shoulder again and was content to wait by his side until he had recovered.

A strong wind suddenly blew around the room and seemed to cut through her clothing, sapping the heat from her skin. A corresponding instinctual quiver seemed to wake Armis from his small period of meditation. He looked down at the shivering girl and tilted his head to the side, a question on his lips.

"Cold?" He asked.

"Yeah." Ruby answered trying to huddle against the warmer Armis.

His cloak however, seemed to be just as cold as the room and rough to touch. She shut her eyes and tried to ignore the cold. Trying to restrain herself from shivering and not disturb Armis with uncomfortable movement. But suddenly she felt the man in question shift from his sitting position, his cloak brushing past her. She didn't flinch away from Armis' touch as multiple hands firmly but gently, griped her arms and around her waist. She actually welcomed the additional warmth and Ruby's eyes remained shut. Her body was lifted into the air and moved towards Armis. She felt something warm envelope her, as though her body was surrounded by hot water bottles and then covered in a comfy blanket.

Ruby opened her eyes to see her entire body hidden within the folds of Armis' cloak, only her head sticking out. She instantly blushed as she realised that she was sitting in between Armis' legs, leaning back against his naked chest. The inner fabric of the cloak was surprisingly comfy compared to the outside and it was welcomingly warm. She felt Armis' chin resting against the top of her head, and several of his arms wrapped all the way around her. Ruby turned her head and looked up at Armis' questioning expression.

"Better?" He asked, a look of concern on his face.

"B- Better." Ruby stuttered and nodded madly, her face flushing completely red.

Armis only looked even more concerned and his arms clenched around her more tightly, in his version of a bear hug.

"Better?" He asked again.

Ruby nodded and quickly looked away. She didn't think Armis understood what blushing was, and hid her face so not to worry him. She certainly didn't mind him hugging her more, it was actually quite relaxing sitting here, enveloped by Armis' cloak.

"Your cloak is comfy." Ruby said almost as though she was asking a question.

"Of course." Armis replied, as though it was the simplest thing in the world.

Ruby guessed that it would have to be, if he wore this cloak all the time. 'I need to get myself one of these too!' Ruby thought giggling to herself. 'I could even wear by cloak under my clothes!'

She imagined it would look awesome darting around surprising people. Another thought flashed through Ruby's mind that caused her to blink in surprise.

'Am I slowly turning into Armis?'

She had a metal arm and now she wanted a badass cloak to go with it. It would have to be red though. Maybe she could spray her arm black too. Another thought crossed her mind.

"Armis? Why are you speaking like that?" She asked.

She felt Armis chest begin to rise and he turned his head to cough heavily to the side. A hand covered his mouth muffling the sound. This time it was her turn to look concerned, as he continued to cough for a alarming amount of time.

"You ok?" Ruby asked, after he had finished his coughing fit, while rubbing and patting his back. "What's doing this?"

"Satrophine and Onslaught side effects. Internal bleeding, impaired speech. Will clear up soon." Armis replied and, Ruby assumed, tried to reassure her.

Ruby looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Armis wiped his mouth and then, unbeknownst to Ruby, wiped the blood from his hand on the carpet behind him.

"Satrophine, Onslaught. Combat drugs." He repeated as he nodded. "I'll heal."

"Combat what?!" She exclaimed. "Why would you do that?"

Armis' head tilted and he frowned as he replied with: "To save you."

Ruby blinked several times in shock, aghast. She didn't know this was the sort of lengths Armis would go to save her. It was quite flattering actually, but she worried even more for his health.

"How dangerous are they?"

Armis only shrugged.

"You had better not ever use them again!"

Armis almost recoiled at the sound of Ruby's angry voice. She was staring right at him and it felt like she could see into his soul. Her real hand had scrunched up a part of his cloak into a tight ball. He doubted he would be able to get her to relinquish her hold if he tried. He slowly nodded his head.

"You promise?"

"I..." Armis hesitated.

"Say you promise!" Ruby shouted at him punching one of his hands with her real arm, to solidify her point.

"Promise." Armis quickly answered.

"Good." Ruby nodded and both of them relaxed again. "You definitely need to explain to me what happened while I was unconscious after you've got better."

"Ok." Armis monotonously replied.

* * *

A few minutes of silence passed between them, both of them lulling into a light sleep. Ruby relaxed against Armis as he leant his back against the wall. Their breathing matched and Ruby was content to listen to his heartbeats until she fell asleep. All four of them.

'Wait four!?' Ruby thought. "Armis?"

"Ruby."

"Why do you have four heartbeats?"

Armis shrugged. "Two hearts." Again, he answered like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"How..? Why..?" Ruby stopped herself. "We really need to have a talk when your feeling better.

Armis just shrugged again.

* * *

"Ruby wake up!"

With a jolt, Ruby's eyes snapped open.

"Ah! What?" She exclaimed and quickly tried to sit up.

With the straining of fabric, she was snapped backwards by the blanketing thing that was restraining her. Ruby yelped as she briefly struggled against whatever it was that held her, until a stern voice shouted in her ear.

"Hold still!" Armis ordered as two pairs of his hands gripped her and stopped her from moving. "You're getting tangled in my cloak!"

Ruby quickly realised where she was and began apologising profusely as Armis lifted her off him. His cloak parted around her as Armis stood up and placed her back down next to him. Her legs wobbled ever so slightly as blood began properly circulating into and around her legs. She was about to ask a question, but a loud crashing from outside the room interrupted her. It sounded like a brawl, hearing the shatter and crash of bottles and chairs being thrown and smashed.

"Open that door! Let us through! We know that monster's in there!" Came the cries of a angry crowd.

Armis frowned and looked at Ruby disappointedly. "As I said before; people hate."

Ruby frowned just as hard as he did. Who was it outside? How had they known he was here? She looked up at Armis who had begun doing rudimentary stretches and was rolling his head around his neck, the clicks and pops of bone reverberating across the room.

"What do we do? Are you better now?" She asked.

"Aye. All the side effects have worn off." He monotonously replied. "And now, we are leaving."

He began striding towards the front door, towards the noise of the mob.

"Are you sure? About showing yourself I mean?" Ruby questioned, slinking alongside him. "Your not gonna... Do anything are you?"

A single step from the door, the handle in arms reach, Armis hesitated. "It was bound to happen eventually if I stayed here for so long. It's is as you said." He put a hand on the door knob and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "This isn't the Imperium."

Those last words came as a whisper and it seemed to Ruby that he was talking more for his benefit than hers. A few seconds passed as he hesitated again. Ruby put a mechanical hand on his shoulder and nodded at him assuredly. Armis only sighed ashamedly as he flipped his hood back up.

"Don't judge me."

Ruby smiled up at him.

"I never do."

* * *

A strange sight would greet them when they exited the dorm room. A mass of shouting students had all gathered to the right side of them, filling the corridor. It was unsurprising to Ruby that Cardin Winchester led the mob, clad in his usual plate mail and gesturing with his mace wildly. A few others held weapons tightly in their fists and shook them violently at the four people blocking their path.

"They can't stop us all!" One enthusiastic student called from the mob and tried rushing towards dorm C4.

"Back off!"

A huge hammer crashed against him and the boy was sent flipping backwards into the crowd in a explosion of pink. Nora Valkyrie slammed the pommel back into the ground.

"Just try it!" She growled glaring back at them, many flinching away from her, including Cardin.

The rest of Team JNPR stood in a line, blocking access to Armis' dorm. Pyrrha span her spear around in a warning, her shield recently repaired from her first match with Armis.

"Look guys, we don't want any trouble..." Jaune started, his shield held out protectively, but nevertheless standing his ground.

"Then get out the way!" Cardin bawled. "That monster isn't human! It doesn't belong here."

There were grunts of agreement from the crowd. And they all began shuffling forwards, weapons ready.

"Goodwitch is gonna love this..." Ren sighed sarcastically and a pair of SMG's slipped out from his sleeves and appeared in his hands.

A moment of tense silence followed as they waited for the other to make a move. However both sides froze as a loud slow creak filled the hallway. Armis' door opened and a tall cloaked figure walked out. A few of the crowd gasped in shock as glowing red eyes bored into their ranks. A hood shrouded his face, but those burning pupils could still be seen. Every footfall was preceded with a thud that seemed deafening in the silent corridor.

"Hey Armis!" Nora turned and smiled childishly at him.

And like that the silence was shattered into confusion. The crowd remained put, but now confused whispers and glances circulated through the group. Armis' hood turned to look down at Nora.

"Why are you four here?" He deadpanned.

All but Nora frowned at his statement, but the ginger haired girl was unfazed.

"To save you silly!" She laughed and hefted her hammer back onto our shoulder.

"I can see that. I asked exactly 'why' are you here protecting me."

"Because you're our friend of course!"

That answer surprised him greatly. What had he done to warrant such treatment? He had perhaps even gone out of his way to be harsh to them, especially Jaune when they first met and Nora after her idiotic accident. Perhaps some form of camaraderie had formed after sparing together for so long. He stared at Nora intently, trying to sense some sort of malice or deceit in her features. Did she want something? Was this a trick? Some ploy to further shame him? But it seemed none of this was the case.

'Nothing but childlike enthusiasm.' Armis sighed to himself, but nodded his thanks to them nevertheless. 'I'll never understand the people of Remnant.'

"So what now?" Nora asked, and began slapping her hammer into the palm of her hand repeatedly. "Shall we break a few legs?"

Several of the mob shivered and clutched their weapons tighter. A few at the back without weapons began slowly slinking out of sight.

'That sentence does not go with that smiling face.' Armis thought, but shook his head and moved Nora aside.

He took step after step towards the mob, the crowd shuffling back in fear at his sudden approach. His steps ended a few paces from the leader of this gathering. Cardin.

"Let me pass." He simply said.

Cardin' mind was screaming for him to run away, but he did his best not to shake physically. He wasn't sure if he succeeded. This cloaked man was just as tall as he was. But with that writhing cloak, he seemed so much bigger and Cardin had never felt so small. But he would not back down and be humiliated again in front of a crowd he himself had gathered. After so many Faunus in Beacon now had so many powerful friends, he had, on more than one occasion, been beaten to a pulp for his bullying ways. So when the opportunity to take out his frustrations on something else had arisen, he pounced.

"And what? You gonna run away?" Cardin held his mace back in a ready position, shivering hands clenching around its metal haft. "I don't think so."

"I am going to see Ozpin."

* * *

Back behind Armis, Ruby was waiting with Team JNPR. They were all ready to jump in and help Armis is the need arose, and were holding their weapons tightly. Ruby was worrying that she had no weapon to help if fighting ensued, until she clenched her fists and heard her talons scrape across her mechanical wrist. She realised that Armis had given her one of his most deadly weapons.

"Armis isn't going to..." Pyrrha wondered aloud.

"Actually break someone's legs?" Nora replied, a bit too hopefully.

"I was going to say; do something bad, but that too." Pyrrha turned to Ruby and after a second of surprised gasp, pointed at her arm. "What happened to your arm!?"

The rest of Team JNPR all fully registered that Ruby also exited the room with Armis and really looked at her. More gasps followed. Ruby smiled embarrassedly and waved her mechanical arm.

"Is that Armis'?" Ren asked, completely wide eyed and bewildered.

Ruby nodded.

"Yeah it's a long story."

* * *

A frown furrowed Cardin's face. He wanted to see Ozpin? That was bad. Ozpin was a known Faunus sympathiser along with the rest of the Beacon staff. The headmaster would probably let him off scot free, or worst let him become a student. He wouldn't allow that. He needed to prove to everyone that there was no messing with Cardin Winchester.

"Nice try monster!" He roared and brought his mace over his head for a downward swing. "Take this!"

Cardin wouldn't usually say stuff so cliche, but it seemed appropriate in his head. Like all the heroes in those old fairy tales he had read to him as a kid. The mace head arced towards the man's head, who made no attempt to dodge. Cardin smirked. He had won. Nothing could stand after a solid hit from his mace.

Except the mace didn't hit. It just hovered a few centimetres from the cloak's hood. Cardin's eyes widened. A thick muscled arm had darted from inside the cloak and grabbed hold of the shaft just below the mace head and stopped it dead. The hooded head tilted slightly.

"It only explodes on impact with the head right?" Armis asked before wrenching the weapon from Cardin's grasp, the boy too surprised to resist.

With the same hand, he pushed the mace head straight into Cardin's face, the warhead within the weapon detonating and sending him flying backwards. He skidded backwards several feet, past the crowd that had parted to avoid him, and right in front of Ozpin's feet. Everyone froze seeing the headmaster so suddenly appear in their ranks. He was holding his cane and coffee cup as usual, but his usual smiling face was replaced by an emotionless mask. Armis threw the mace to the ground and it rolled to a stop against Cardin's unconscious body.

"All students are to return to their dorms." His eyes swept through the mob, remembering faces and names for later. He lifted his cane up to slam back into the ground to punctuate his point. "Immediately!"

With that the silence was broken and everyone except Armis, Ruby and Team JNPR scrambled out of the corridor. Two of Cardin's teammates picked up Cardin's body, while the other team member grabbed his mace before they all ran off. Armis walked up to meet Ozpin as he strode forwards. Ruby following close behind. Ozpin's face changed into his usual demeanour and he smiled at Team JNPR.

"Thank you for your help. Run along now."

Nora opened her mouth to reply, but Ren quickly grabbed her and dragged her off with the rest of his team. They may have not been able to see it, but Ren could sense the subtle hints anger in Ozpin's words. This was not a time to go against him. The corridor soon emptied to leave only the three.

"Armis, Miss Rose. Please follow me to the clock tower. Do not fall behind." Ozpin told them and swiftly turned around.

"Yes sir." They both replied and marched side by side after him.

* * *

The steady tick of the clock tower only made the silence more tense. Ruby and Armis stood just in front of Ozpin's desk, while the man himself simply say there, tapping away at a scroll. Ruby almost screamed, the silence was so maddening. But luckily, Ozpin soon turned to the pair and looked them over. He was paying particular attention to Ruby's new arm.

"What. happened." Such a simple sentence had never been spoken so sternly, nor did they leave any room for deception or bending of the truth.

It took a while, but finally they were able to explain exactly what had happened after Ruby had been attacked by Grimm. Ozpin did not interrupt and was now leaning back in his chair contemplating how this new information would affect the future. It infuriated Armis to no end that he reminded him of the Inquisitor after he had given his report. Cold and calculating. But he trusted Ozpin enough that his decision could only be beneficial. To both of them. Ruby was trying her best not to faint she was so nervous. Her limbs quivered every so often.

"Miss Rose are there any side effects to this new bionic?" Ozpin asked.

"Ah! What? Oh yeah it's slower than my real one." She said demonstrating by raising both her arms in the air. Her mechanical arm trailed behind by about a second.

Ozpin put a hand to his chin and began thinking again.

'Well they had to meet some time.' He thought, before addressing the two of them. "Armis, there is someone who will be arriving shortly who I would very much like you to meet. Miss Rose as well should remain here, his companion is an expert in the field of bionics, despite the relative youth and lack of testing of such a field."

Armis sighed to himself. 'They trust Abominable Intelligence, but bionics are considered untested and untrustworthy. How naive.'

"Please could the two of you stand to one side of the elevator. Our guests will be arriving shortly." Ozpin gave a curt and serious nod to Armis, who understood his meaning.

Ruby had began to question, but Armis grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the side. She could hear the elevator moving just behind the wall, and Armis quickly wrapped his cloak around her. The darkness of a shadow enveloped the two and it soon became hard for even Ozpin to see them. The elevator let out a ding and the doors opened. Through a small parting in Armis' cloak she could see General Ironwood storm into Ozpin's office.

"What the hell is going on!" Ironwood roared. "Some monster is on the streets and Atlas is the first they blame? You said that you would keep the peace in Vale, but I am having a difficult time believing that when some abomination, this Metzger, roams the streets!"

Ruby felt Armis tense up at the General's harsh words, but he relaxed slightly as she put a hand against one of his. Ozpin remained seated and began trying to calm the General. Their argument lasted a few long seconds before Ruby heard the elevator ding again, signalling that the doors were closing. But in that moment a red blur slid out from the elevator. A single large blue eye looked straight at them, from under a blood red cloak. She heard Armis curse and she was throw aside. A metal tendril shot out from the red cloaks depths, only to be knocked aside by one of Armis' knives, a flicker of sparks exploding from where the metals met.

'How did he see me? Why is he attacking me? Is he with the general?' These questions bounced around his mind, but the more pressing concern was the bombardment of more bionic tendrils streaking towards him.

His knife could only block so many and Armis leapt to the side and into the light of the office. General Ironwood had by now turned around and was reeling back in surprise. This did not last long however as he began reaching for the revolver at his hip. Armis charged forwards at the cloaked stranger, dodging strikes left and right. He lashed out with his remaining bionic and crushed one of the tendrils. A mechanical screech of what could be considered pain, was heard from the red cloaked man. Armis pulled on the tendril bringing the man close and releasing his grip to stab forwards with the razor talons of his bionic.

"Ave imperator!" The man suddenly shouted.

Armis froze, his talons a inch away from the man's hood. Several metal tendrils also froze around him, all poised to kill. A second more of motion and they would have impaled each other. The General finished pulling out his revolver and pointed it at Armis. He barked orders to surrender, but he was ignored.

The tendrils retracted back into the red cloak and Armis noticed the signature white cog and skull logo embellished in the corners. He too sheathed his knife back into his own cloak and the two stood facing one another. Both slowly raised a hand to their hoods and removed them, the red cloaked figures hand made completely of metal, in a mockery of the human skeleton. A ashen face was revealed that would have otherwise been considered young, if it had not been half covered with a sleek black gas mask. His mouth was completely obscured by the device, two cycling filters jutting out to each side. The right side of the man's head was completely covered in metal, ending at his eye, which was removed and replaced with the blue pane of a cybernetic one. The other eye was still intact and appeared a natural blue, but the strobing lights of nano-screens scrolling just beneath his pupils, betrayed their mechanical origin. Under the small amount of skin Armis could see at the man's neck was more cybernetics, but he knew that they did not end there. Both looked at the familiar features of the other and nodded greetings to the man they had but seconds ago been trying to kill.

"Magos."

"Armis."

* * *

"So you're here too."

"Affirmative."

"Put your hands up!" General Ironwood shouted, pointing his revolver at Armis.

"What the hell is going on!" Cried Ruby from the floor where she had been thrown. Her hands were on her head as her brain tried to cope with the overload and concussion. "Everything's happening so fast."

"Could everybody please-" Ozpin tried to get everyone attention.

Ironwood took an intimidating step forwards towards Armis. "I said put your hands up!"

Armis turned to him and shrugged raising a pair of his hands. In the instant that Ironwood saw him 'surrendering,' the general lowered his weapon ever so slightly. And in that instant a shot rang out from inside Armis cloak. The bullet stuck against the brick-like revolver and it was snatched out of his hands at the force. The general's face contorted with rage and he charged at Armis. A white gloved right hand sent a haymaker at his head, but it was stopped by Armis mechanical talons. The bending of metal filled the room, and both Armis and Ironwood looked surprise.

'He has a bionic arm?' They both thought.

"Everyone remain **Calm**!" Ozpin shouted, psychic power interwoven into his words, forcing everyone to stop.

Silence once again enveloped the room, and Armis jumped backwards away from the general, to land next to Ruby, who took his hand and stood up.

"Now. I have brought you all here today to discuss the circumstances and complications around my friend Armis' public image." Ozpin gestured at Armis. "And the implicated consequences if this gets out of hand."

"Who is he?" Ironwood shouted. "How do you know him or even trust him! He has just been terrorising the streets and you just let him into your office like you've know him your entire life!"

Ozpin smiled slightly at that. "I wouldn't go that far general, but I know enough about him to trust him. And you shouldn't be so trusting of the media. They will do anything for a good story."

"Then how do you explain him being covered in blood, threatening civilians and dragging round a maimed girl!" Ironwood argued.

"Do you remember what the girl looked like?" Ozpin asked, pointing behind Ironwood, who turned to see Ruby Rose waving her bionic arm.

"Hi." She smiled awkwardly.

"Armis if you would."

Armis nodded and showed the opposite twin to Ruby's bionic arm, as well as the bloodied stump where it had once resided. Ironwood looked from Armis to Ruby in absolute shock.

"But how..? What about..?"

"Armis was in an extremely stressful and time sensitive situation. Miss Rose was bleeding out and dying in his arms. He was also on orders from me to not reveal himself to the public due to his appearance. That is why he was not as polite and patience as he could possibly be when asking for directions to the hospital and why he shot the news camera." Ozpin stared at Ironwood and repeated himself. "He shot the camera. Not the cameraman."

Ironwood looked completely defeated. He sighed. "What do you have in mind?"

Ironwood knew the reason why he had been brought here. Ozpin always had a plan that would get them out of this mess, but he also had to be a smug prick about it too.

Ozpin smiled smugly. "Good to see you've reclaimed your senses. But before we can get down to business, I have a favour to ask of your companion." He looked at the red cloaked man. "Who would be?"

Ironwood nodded and gestured to his comrade.

"This is Magos. He's one of Atlas' top military researchers." He started.

Armis snapped around and stared with some concern at Magos. A researcher for Atlas, the biggest supplier of AI on the planet.

'Had the Magos become a Heretek?' He worried.

Magos must have have seen Armis' look. "Excluding AI projects." He added, much to Armis' relief.

"Ah yes." Ironwood continued. "He has made great advances in solely human to machine interfaces such as cybernetic limbs and biological enhancements. He has even begun incorporating weapon shifting technology into bionics."

Armis once again frowned. It wasn't as horrifying as AI, but incorporating non-STC designs into Mechanicus tech was still tech-heresy. Magos held up a skeletal hand and blurted something out in Binary. Armis didn't fully catch all of it, but he assumed it meant that there was an explanation but it would have to come later. The stern glare he gave in reply made sure Magos knew it had better be a good one.

"Amazing." Ozpin replied, although no one could tell if he was telling the truth or merely humouring Ironwood.

Magos nodded his thanks along with a mechanical chirp. "You require assistance?"

"Miss Rose has recently received a bionic in replacement of her arm. However there are a few kinks that need to be worked out, as the process of grafting it to her was rather... Rushed."

Magos turned to Ruby and looked at her outstretched arm. His blue eyes seemed to light up in thought, and Armis knew that they literally were, as data on the bionic's specifications flowed past his eyes. Magos turned to Armis, a withering look of disappointment on his face.

"I was combat addled." He hastily gave an excuse. "Ruby is an valuable ally and I had plenty to spare."

A small smile crept on Ruby's face. She had just remembered him telling a similar joke about having enough hands to spare. It felt like an age had passed since then.

"Very well." Magos nodded and grabbed Ruby by her mechanical arm. "I shall make adjustments."

Ozpin thanked Magos. "The three of us will be discussing how best to address the public and calm the people."

Ruby looked concernedly at Armis, as she was dragged into the elevator, who only told her that everything would be alright.

"You can trust the Magos. He's seventy six percent machine, so he knows a thing or two about bionics." He said with the kindest, most trustworthy face he could muster.

"Seventy six point one two six percent." Magos piped up with pride. "I have a personal sanctuary aboard the General's Flagship, suitable for any modifications desired."

Armis face then became a glare of absolute seriousness as he looked at Magos. "Make whatever changes that Ruby Rose desires. But nothing more! She shall remain hundred percent human except for that arm, you hear me? No hidden prehensile spike! No muscle-integrated servo arm! And defiantly no internal data tethers! You can only modify her arm."

"Affirmative." Magos replied.

Ruby's face paled in fright as Magos pressed the button to the ground floor.

"Wait wha-"

The doors dinged shut.

* * *

-t?" Ruby finished with only Magos hearing.

She slowly turned around to see him still holding onto her bionic. She could barely tell as there was no feeling in it. All she felt was a fuzziness in the meeting of flesh and metal. Hopefully there was something Magos could do to fix that. The man was examining it from top to bottom, chirping to himself.

"Soooo." Ruby started awkwardly. "You know Armis?"

"We served together along time ago. Far away from here." He replied.

"With the Inquisitor?" Ruby blurted out instinctively.

Magos almost recoiled in shock. "How do you know the Inquisitor?"

"Armis told me." She laughed nervously.

"You must be a trusted companion if he revealed that to you."

"Yeah..."

There was a moment of awkward silence as the elevator descended. Awkward for Ruby at least. She continued to hear weird clicking and chirping noises coming from Magos. From what Armis told her this must be one of the techpriests from the Imperium. She was beginning to like the idea of being a techpriest less and less as she saw more of Magos' appearance. It just defied everything natural about a person. From the dead skin, to the tendrils and the skeleton hands. Ruby shivered.

A strange though however popped into her head. She also remembered Armis telling her that a Magos was a rank of Techpriest.

"Why are you and the Inquisitor only called by your rank? Not by name?" She asked.

"Those are our names. Since the Inquisitor's predecessor all those in the Inquisitor's personal retinue are to be named exactly what they are." The mechanical voice explained. "Inquisitor. Sister. Magos. Armis."

"Wait, but Armis has a name? Not a title." Ruby frowned.

Magos looked back at her and tilted his head, his right metallic eye flashing. "Armis is a title. It tells you exactly what he is."

"What does it mean then."

"In High Gothic, Armis means Arms. Or Weapon."

* * *

 ** _It seems Armis was not the only one of the Inquisitor's retinue that is on Remnant. The Tech Priest known only as Magos seems to have been working for Atlas and General Ironwood. With his help Ruby can hopefully get more accustomed to the use of a bionic. Hopefully..._**

 ** _Apologies for taking so long to write this next chapter. Spent some time going over Angels and Fairies and just had writers block for all of my other stories. Hopefully that has ended now and I will be getting back on track._**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: Ozpin seems to have a plan to avert any panic caused by Armis' appearance and has roped General Ironwood in to his plan to help. Acompanying the General was Magos, a techpriest working under Armis' Inquisitor, who was revealed to be working with Atlas. Fortunately, no techpriest worth his cog cannot build and modify a mechanical prosthetic. Ruby should be in good hands. Right..?**_

 _ **AncientRaig: Yes my friend channel your inner Yang! And perhaps Magos can rearm the now eleven armed man, but for now, Armis has asked for him to focus on Ruby's prosthetic.**_

 ** _Redmechanic: Armis is usually in control of himself when fighting. It is only when he is under the effect of a combat drugs cocktail that he loses most inhibitions. Ruby mortality helped bring him back to some level of ethical integrity._**

 ** _The ranking system in the Imperium is weird. To prevent a single person from gathering too much power, the main organisations of the Imperium don't have authority over one another. So therefore neither Armis or Magos technically have command of the other, as they were both equal inquisitorial operatives under the Inquisition. If Magos does something for Armis, it is because he, personally, wants to do it._**

 ** _You never know with the Dark Mechanicum... Magos may be more heretical than you know. He is working for Atlas after all, the Guys that make AI. 'The Soulless Sentience is a threat to all life,' after all._**

 ** _Le MAO XVII: Telling people about the horrors of the Galaxy is a lot harder to truly believe, as well as less detrimental to your health, than actually seeing it with your own eyes. Only Ruby has so far even seen a glimpse into the grim dark of the far future. Give her some credit, for she is a lot stronger than she knows. Look at the ending to Volume 3! Ruby is the only person in team RWBY who remains true to herself and stands up to do something._**

 ** _As for the rest of team RWBY they care a lot more about Ruby, than they do for Armis. So no apologies this chapter. Maybe later... No promises._**

 ** _Nemris: Glad to have you back, my chaotic compatriot. Magos: The Zwolf is from a truly ancient Terran language, lost to the throws of time. I believe the data slates name this dead langauge as... Jerman? The original data has long been corrupted and rewritten countless times. We will perhaps never know for certain..._**

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

"This just in! The recent supposed terror in the streets, assumed to be the infamous Metzger killer, has been debunked by Beacon's and Atlas' headmasters Ozpin and General Ironwood. It turns out that the man in question, now known as Armis Zwolf, was desperately trying to bring Vytal Festival participant Ruby Rose to a hospital after a Grimm attack. Our hearts goes out to her and we all wish her a speedy recovery. Armis himself has not been seen since, but General Ironwood has admitted that he is the result of a forced semblance transplant. A group of breakaway Atlas extremists are responsible and the good General assures us that these 'unethical madmen' have been apprehended. For more details visit out scroll page. In other news, due to her injuries, the battle between Beacon's aptly named Team RWBY and Haven's Team ABRN will be taking place after all other Team battles. Ozpin has assured everyone that Ruby will have recovered by then."

* * *

'Well at least no one is freaking out anymore...'

Ruby sighed. She felt kinda guilty really. The news was all good wishes and get well cards, but they were completely directed at her. She didn't need any help recovering. It had felt like she had pretty much recovered instantly. Truth be told, she couldn't remember feeling any pain, she had been unconscious or sedated for most of it. Armis however... Ruby shook her head and sighed again. No good thinking about that now. The situation had been resolved for the better. She smiled inwardly, a slight redness passing through her cheeks.

'It just means that I'll have to make it up to Armis for causing so much trouble! I'm thinking a cloaked cuddle and chocolate.'

An sharp electric tingling ran through her entire body and Ruby let out a high pitched 'eep!' That very sensation brought her crashing back into reality.

"Interesting. Unexpected feedback."

"Owwwww! That hurt! Wait, you didn't even know if taking my arm off would hurt or not?"

"Incorrect. Pain was inevitable. I simply cannot recall a patient making the noise 'eep' upon removal of a augmetic."

Ruby groaned embarrassingly to herself. Magos' so called 'Sanctuary' was like someone had taken an typical Atlas kitchen, in all its spotless and high tech glory and let it get hit by a Vacuo sandstorm. And said sand was somehow red. The interior was covered in sand, or rust she couldn't tell, but at least all of the surgical equipment was in spotless condition. Oh wait, was that a splatter of blood? Nevermind. The room seemed to be divided in two by a large ragged curtain, but Ruby couldn't see past any of that. On her side of the room, several mismatched pieces of tech and equipment lay in a somewhat organised fashion, everything from dust engine prototypes to mechanical little fingers that seemed to twitch creepily. A large adjustable seat was in the centre, flattened until it was horizontal and at the perfect height for Magos to operate. The man himself had just finished removing her borrowed arm, although a thin cylinder of metal still wrapped around the stump, preventing blood loss. Ruby could only see the back of his hood and robes from here, although sometimes she caught glimpses of a gleaming tendril or two. Ruby promises herself that she would remain strong. She wouldn't panic, she wouldn't freak out, she wouldn't panic, she wouldn't freak-

Magos turned around holding Armis' bionic arm. In pieces. Ruby freaked out.

"AAAAAHHHHH! Why'd you do this! Armis is gonna kill me! I only just got it and it was really cool and me and him kinda had this opposites thing going on, not that that makes much sense because, you know ten other arms, but still my point is-!"

"Query. Do you require additional oxygen intake?" Magos asked monotonously.

"Yes!" Ruby shouted, and then took a huge gasping breath, counted to ten and then settled back down.

The Tech priest brought a skeletal hand to his chin and scratched it broodingly. "Perhaps current oxygen supply is unsatisfactory. One moment." He mumbled to himself.

A set of mechanical tendril's snaked their way from out of his robes and gripped an out of place bulkhead wheel. With a creaking snap, it span about its axis and several previously invisible vents around the room opened with a hiss. The Sanctuary soon filled with a thick smog that just barely made the rest of the room visible and increased the humidity of the room exponentially. Ruby took a breath and found that, after a bit of a spluttering cough and getting used to breathing in the smoke, the overall smell of it wasn't entirely unpleasant. It was like a weird combination of open fire smoke, oil, fire dust and those incense candles Armis burnt. Except stronger.

"What... What is this?" Ruby asked taking a deep, now smooth, breath.

Magos too joined her in taking a breath. Ruby only now noticed that he had removed the sleek gas mask that covered half of his face. Again she was surprised at how young he appeared. His face was pretty normal except for the large bionic right eye and pale skin.

"This is air filtered from Sacred Mars, imbued and distilled with Landraider cleaning oils and a Princeps' Imperator incense." Magos' eye seemed to glow with pride. Literally. "Glorious is it not?"

"It brings back good memories." Ruby replied, the smell reminded her of when she was making and modifying Crescent Rose.

The two of them just stood there for a while, breathing in the aroma of Astartes Armour, Battle Titan's and red Martian sand. Magos then gestured to the table and Ruby just took a seat at his unspoken request. Several of his tendril's had shifted and opened to reveal what should have been terrifying implements of death and torture, such as chainsaws, blowtorches and pincers, but Ruby had some understanding of how hard it must be for someone to make modifications to a bionic as tough as Armis'.

"What sort augmentic' surgery would you like undertaken?" He asked, data scrolling down his left eye, the bionic right zooming and adjusting, taking in every square inch of Ruby's skin, skeleton and everything in between.

"I thought Armis said that you could only change my arm?"

"Armis has no jurisdiction over a Mechanicus Genetor, just as I have no jurisdiction over him." Magos seemed to sigh, a amalgamation of whirrs and clicks. "Although I would like to avoid any misinterpreted data, or hard feelings as you people call it. It has been years since I have been able to work on true Mechanicus tech so I will content myself with augmenting solely this prosthetic."

Ruby shivered as he took a step closer, fear beginning to take root in her spin. Luckily Magos seemed to notice.

"You have no need to fear. I will make no augmentations against your will. Do not mind the mechatendrils. My machine spirits are simply getting restless." He said. The tendril's at his back twitching and inching closer only to be yanked back with a flick of Mago's shoulders. "What sort of specifications would you like for your arm?"

"Uuuuummmm..." Ruby wondered. 'What augmentics 'did' she want for her arm?'

She tried to think back to what Armis had told her about his bionics and that of the Imperium as a whole.

"Could you give me some time to think?"

"Ah yes, of course. How uncharacteristically impatient of me. Will bolster Machine spirit prayers at the earliest connivence." Magos nodded. "Secondary point: those not machine-bound are indecisive and have drastically slower thought process'. Providing examples should speed along surgery."

"Errrr... I'm right here you know?" Ruby spoke up indignantly.

"Yes. Yes you are." Magos agreed, to his patients dismay. "Where was I? Examples for Augmentics. I shall be making general adjustments and changes to this deserved machine, for it to better serve its master. Weight distribution, size, length etc."

More tendril's began snaking out of his robes, thinner ones this time, each moving towards Ruby and running parallel to one of her body parts or another, measuring and recording.

"However some more personal features may be added, at your behest. Armis for example preferred the clawed form this augmentic originally held. Four fingered and thumbed, razor edged with a perfect blend of finesse and deadliness." Magos seemed to be flaunting his own work a bit too much for Ruby's liking.

"But he had ten other arms to grab stuff with. I would just shred everything I touched." Ruby nay said.

"You still have half your flesh born arms remaining."

"I only have one left!"

"Very well. I assume that you would prefer a more 'human' variant?"

Ruby nodded. Magos sighed, again his filters were set rattling and whirring. He would never understand the people of Remanant. It had been the same with Ironwood. They had the choice of having the sacred chordclaw of a Silicarian Ruststalker, yet they only wanted the plain old boring 'standard' augmentic.

'Why do these people always have to put so much emphasis of this 'voluntary' thing? Just imagine the creations he could forge if given free reign.'

Ruby seemed to notice his displeasure and being the naive and kind soul she was, asked for his attention again.

"Why not do both?"

There was a pause as Magos' analytical brain comprehended the black haired little girl's sentence.

"Clarify?"

"The clawed version and the human version. Why not do both?"

Magos frowned and almost began scolding the girl for her ignorance. What did she know of machinery? She was no adept. She was not even an initiate. How could she possibly understand the great and glorious..!

"Why not fit smaller claws just in front of each of the second knuckles? Maybe mount a dust generator in the wrist and incorporate the same shifting gears I use for Crescent Rose along with something like a motion gyrostabiliser. Sure you'll need to make a new claw for the extra finger, but hey! Flick of the wrist and snick! Fingers into claws." Ruby laughed, now proud of her own genius, turning to smile at Magos. "What do you think?"

Magos went completely still for several long moments, each tendril motionless around him. His skeletal hands crushed into fists and groaned as pistons and servos exerted force upon themselves. He began shaking, beeps and clicks echoing from inside his head as his mind's computing power went into overdrive. Ruby's eyes widened as steam seemed to be pouring from out of his hood.

"Use the ideas of a naive child fleshling from a backwater planet, far away from the Omnissiah's light?" Magos' rasped, his breath becoming more frequent. "Use Remnant Tech to create a blend between two Mechanicus designs... Two holy, priceless STC designs..."

"Hey Magos I'm fine with just the human variant if it offends any Techpriests ok?" Ruby tried to calm him.

"Offend Techpriests? A gross understatement. Tech-cleansings have been undertaken due to less." Magos seemed to add. "They would declare it Tech-Heresy. A insult to the machine spirit! This... This..."

Magos seemed to stop shaking and a gradual crackle began emanating from his hood. It took Ruby a moment to finally realise what he was doing.

He was laughing.

"This is genius! And the priesthood would hate it so much!" Magos nodded repeatedly and chuckling. Or his best approximation to a chuckle. "Yes, this new design will be perfect."

"But I thought you said it was tech heresy?" Ruby asked cautiously, trying to figure out the best exit strategy, if Magos somehow spontaneously combusted from all the lights and noises that was coming from him.

"Incorrect. I said other Techpriests would call it Tech Heresy." Magos stood up completely straight and his two skeletal hands appeared, interlocking fingers into a makeshift symbol of the cog. One of his tendril's lifted up revealing the deep black underside of his red cloak. "You, my dear soon-to-be augmented fleshling are in the presence of Magos Genatus! Apexist of the Companions of Vogal, Formerly of Forge World Stygies VIII!"

"I'm sorry. I know about forge worlds but what you said didn't make much sense to me." Ruby tried to say with the least amount of offence as she could possibly muster. She was still strapped to an operating table after all.

"It does not need too. It was simply to reinstall my faith in the Omnissiah and my decision to break away from the priesthood of Mars." Magos replied, turning around, and brushing the large dividing curtain to retrieve something.

Before Ruby could question him further, her attention became acutely more focused on the bare human foot that she had just caught a glimpse of on the other side of the room.

"Errrr Magos? Who is that?" Ruby asked blinking several times.

Magos looked up from whatever he was working on, in between the divide of the room. He looked too and from one side of the room hidden from Ruby and the other she resided in.

"This?" He replied, allowing another mechatendril to finally remove the barrier between the rooms. "This is my other patient."

Now fully uncovered, Ruby saw an identical chair that she lay upon on the other side of the room. A woman lay almost naked across it, except for a plain white set of underwear and a chest binder. After the initial shock, her fears about Magos experimenting upon some woman were laid to rest. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully, a heart beat monitor and a IV bag next to her. Her skin had only the lightest hue of a tan, and her other features seems just about average really. Small amounts of fat and muscle around her body, no tattoos or scaring. Nothing abnormal. The woman seemed older than her, perhaps in her early twenties. The only thing that seemed out of place and strange was her hair. Or her lack there of. A thin black layer of hair tufts was all that remained, evenly shaved. For Ruby that really was strange. For a man, her current example being Armis, she considered it odd to have so little hair, but nothing exactly wrong about it. However for a woman that was just unheard of! For the women of Remnant's Kingdoms, it was a chance to express individuality and style. You could make an educated guess of where a person was born just by looking at their hair. From the professional and somewhat practical ponytails of Atlas to the sheer variety of Vale. To simply have none of it was... Unthinkable. She remembered playfully tormenting Yang with tales of how people suddenly lost their hair and the blonde brawler still had nightmares about occasionally about waking up bald.

Ruby was snapped out of her train of thought when a sharp needle injected a foreign liquid into her neck. One of Magos tendril's quickly retreated back into his cloak guiltily.

"Hey!" She squealed, trying to rub her neck but finding she had been well and truly strapped down to the table, even her arm stump.

"Calm yourself. This will only put you to sleep. I will work and attach the augmentic as you slumber." Magos chastised her.

Ruby grumbled at this but tried to get back on topic. She suddenly found her eyes were growing heavy and her body was going numb.

'Is that woman imperial?' Ruby tried to say but found she could no longer speak, her mind lapsing into unconsciousness.

Magos left her there for a few moments and walked to the unknown woman across from Ruby. A mechatendril slid open to reveal a vox recorder which the Techpriest began talking into.

"Patient no. Two has been sedated. Work can once again proceed with patient no. One."

More mechatendril's emerged from the red cloak, several opening and sprouting needles, scalpels and focusing high powered lasers. And one miniature chainsword.

The sounds of tearing flesh and cracking bone filled the room. A few moments later a wet slap echoed past all other noises, as a mound of ill-looking flesh hit the floor.

* * *

Several hours earlier

Vale was considered to the the most diverse kingdom in all of Remnant. Mostly made up of forested woodland, the Grimm there were considered a low threat against the cities considerable defenses. Only in extreme cases such as 'the breach' was it even heard of that Grimm could enter the city. A large number of Vales population was made up of other kingdoms and the council of the kingdom welcomed them. They had long prided themselves on their diverse culture and democratic practices. It had been in Vale that most of the racial laws protecting and equalising the Faunus people had been drafted and spread across to the other kingdoms and as a consequence, they boasted the highest population of the beast people. You really could see anything in Vale. From Atlas gunstores, to Vacuo clothiers. There was something for everyone in Vales markets. Well almost everyone. Not everyone was looking for products after all. Some just came to relax at a cafe. Or try to at least.

"What do you keep staring at me?" Patient One asked him.

In the bustling shopping district of Vale, two strangers met for the first time. They say in a out of the way cafe on opposing tables, but close enough for them to converse. Both so very different from one another, but that difference was perhaps what brought them together. If anything that difference was what set both of them apart. One of them, the other observed, was sitting down in a primitive locomotive device, that looked like someone had crudely welded a set of wheels to a chair. Set out before her was a table full of drinks, plates and what he could only assume was an impressive amount of Emperor's Mercy bar rations, but empty of all other occupants but herself. The woman, wearing a thin shirt with the Vytal Festival logo emblazoned on the front stared back at him.

The man that had been watching her was sitting at one of the cafe's outdoor tables just as she was, but his table was devoid of any of the usual cafe contents. She couldn't tell where he was from. He had none of the tell tale signs that usually indicated a person's origin from within the four kingdoms. Although she mused that that probably went both ways considering her own appearance. In fact most of the man's body was hidden behind a huge red shroud. Luckily the hood he wore did not obscure his face. He was a bit too ashen skinned for someone from Vacuo or Atlas. Maybe he was from Minstral or Vale, but even then he seemed too pale for that. His face gave no emotion away and his lips were drawn into a thin line. Strange scaring seemed to divide his lower and upper head, as though he had always been wearing something, but never took it off, a sort of pale tan line. The weirdest thing however was his unblinking metal monocle that covered his right eye. Perhaps it was some sort of new scroll tech that was attached to your eye. It did have that signature blue glow to it.

"Hey I'm talking to you! Why have you been staring at me?" She asked again.

The stranger in red looked at her some more, his other blue eye blinking once.

"Your hair." He replied.

"Yeah what about it?!" She growled at him, she had had enough of people constantly asking about her hair. "Never seen someone with no hair before?"

"I can think of many examples of those whose heads are shaven, but all those are not from here. You are the first I have seen from these kingdoms." The man said nonchalantly, his voice lacking much emotion, speaking as though he was rolling off a list of facts. "All of your comrades that were previously around you wore such differing styles of their flesh born hair. Yet you do not. This is why I stare at you. You interest me."

The woman frowned, not understanding his answer. She didn't know if this guy was mocking her, being serious or seriously mucking up his attempt at hitting on her.

"Well I don't have this hair by choice you know!" She rebuked, her face contorted into a combination of frustration, sadness and confusion.

"Do you dislike your current hairstyle?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? I don't have hair!"

"Exactly. It is perfectly practical in almost all situations. Less time is wasted due to social grooming and the trappings of flesh born society, and it allows easy access to the skull in the case of injury or needed surgery. Not to mention combat situations. Your hair is perfect."

The woman's fists bawled up and she was about to finally explode in impatience at this newcomer, until she suddenly realised. This man had called her hair perfect. 'Your hair is perfect.' The sentence echoed through her mind and her body relaxed, a small blush even crossing her features. She quickly settled down and looked into the man's visible eye. There didn't seemed to be any deceit in those eyes. He actually had complimented her. Thinking back on what he had said, she couldn't fault his logic. Many times her old long wavy hair had got stuck in something, torn and hurt her. It usually took her ages to get it ready and even after all that, some other girl would just outshine her with some new, more fashionable hair product. It was... Frustrating to say the least.

"If you despise you current appearance, why not grow it." He asked, as though it was the most simple thing in the world.

It wasn't. Not for her. She rested her head in her hands and her eyes began to wet slightly.

"I can't." Her voice cracked for a moment but she continued, looking up at him and rubbing her skull with one hand. "Not with this in my head."

The man frowned slightly and looked where she indicated on her head. The woman swore that his eyes lit up for a moment.

"A tumour." He stated, eyes lighting up again. "And current treatment in Remnant is..."

"Kymotheropy. The meds are apparently keeping me alive, but my hair gets the axe so to say." She finished his train of thought for him.

The man nodded understanding. "And your spinal column?"

The woman sighed and looked down at her wheel chair. Her only eternal companion. Her curse so to speak. She wondered briefly why she was baring her soul to this man. She didn't know him and he didn't know her. She shrugged and reached to unclasp a metal flask from the side of her wheel chair. Uncorking it, she let the hard liquor drain down her throat. She shrugged.

'Fuck it, it's not like there's anyone else left I can talk to. Even those guys spending time with me before, only did so because we met by coincidence.'

"A bullet." The man spoke up. It wasn't a question.

"Was it that easy for you to tell? Not many people have broken spines naturally or even accidentally due to aura, so yeah a bullet. A White Fang bullet specifically." She chuckled darkly. "They weren't even aiming at me. Just the luck of the draw really. One of my friends was big into sparing so me and him decided to fight with our auras at max. It was great fun really. Hitting each other but not really feeling pain."

"Aura truly is a great boon."

The woman nodded. "It is. Until it runs out. And the moment it did, and we settled down to go home, a White Fang raid went down in the room next door. Don't know what they were after and frankly I don't care. The long and short of it was that they opened fire. And a single bullet punched through the paper thin walls between us and them and caught me right in small of my back."

There was a moment of silence and the man only nodded slowly. After she finished her drink she returned the flask to its rightful place. She assumed the conversation was over and she began rolling her was to the cafe exit.

"Would it be agreeable if you worked for me?"

She froze. The question had come out of nowhere. She slowly looked over her shoulder, back at the man. Was he serious?

"What?"

"Are you already employed?" He asked.

"No, but why would you employ..." She slapped her palm against the side of her wheel, to illustrate her point. "Someone like me? What use would I be?"

"I require an assistant for my work. You are suitable."

She got angry again. It was lucky a lot of the cafes customers had cleared out otherwise someone may have called the police. She just didn't understand it! Why was she being complimented? Why was she being accepted by this man so quickly? Why was she being offered a job. Was this man mocking her? Had he even seen her? Was he blind?! A small part of her argued that she did really need a job, as due to her state not many people wanted to hire her. But the angrier side of her mind crushed the other smaller logical part.

"Why, by all that is Dust! Would you want to hire me!" She roared at him, her eyes ablaze with hatred directed more at herself than anything else, the darker self loathing part of her coming to the surface. "A shaven headed, ugly, legless bitch like me! Are you insane? Blind? There must be dozens, no hundreds of other people better suited than me. Who would want someone like me!"

"I would want you."

Inside her mind could have been likened to a lightbulb exploding, glass shattering and scattering everywhere, her brain overloading and turning to mush.

"Ok." Her voice began to fade just as the light in her eyes did.

The woman then promptly fainted, slumping forwards in her chair.

* * *

'He hadn't got an answer.' Magos sighed, as he pushed the woman back upright against her wheelchair.

He had at first been interested with this girl for being the only female from Remnant whom he had seen with a practical shaven head. His former priesthood had prescribed such a style to all of its initiates, and it was a tradition he had upheld and agreed with his entire life. It was nostalgic to see another not of the priesthood with such a similar style. But as he had learnt more, he had perhaps felt only pity for the girl.

If he did as she had and likened life to drawing cards from an ancient Terra past time, then she had drawn jokers. Both of them. A chance encounter with the White Fang, followed by news of a brain tumour had wrecked havoc on her fragile human body. He had seen her body and its flaws through his augmetic eye and to it's credit, it should have perhaps already expired. But it had continued to persevere. Her brain even showed signs of deep mental trauma, similar to that he had seen in scrambled guardsmen, or more relevantly, Armis. Magos resolved that this encounter was not coincidence. This was fate as set down by the Omnissiah himself!

He felt the phone scroll given to him by General Ironwood buzz within his robes. He sighed, the next breath he took reminding him how much he preferred to keep his gas mask on him at all times. If the General needed him then it was most likely something important. It really was a shame she had not consented to answering his request. After this issue with Ironwood was settled, what he would have to do next would be a gamble. But he believed that the Machine Spirits would be favourable and it would pay off.

He needed an able bodied assistant after all.

* * *

Armis was sulking in his room. He didn't know why. It had been a few days since his appearance had been revealed to the public and yet it still irked him that it had gone down this way. Several team fights had taken place since. Team JNPR had of course won their bout and would be proceeding to the next round. Apparently the enemy team had almost fled the arena after what Nora did to one of their companions. Armis had watched via scroll and was actually impressed at how her and her team had improved. Even Jaune had given good account of himself. No foolish team shout outs and reckless charges. The many armed man had even felt some amount of pride when Jaune had been disarmed of his sword, yet proceeded to knock his opponent out of the arena with a bone crunching slap to the face via blunt shield. A move Armis had used against him not so long ago.

He guessed that he should be happy that everyone believed he was some Atlas experiment, as though they could even imagine the technology to breed something like him, rather than a Imperial experiment. But it still held a bitter taste in his mouth at the state he was in when he had been revealed. He had gotten sloppy. He needed to retrain his mind and his body, better prepare himself for any other unexpected circumstances that came up. There has been too many complications as of late.

There was a knock at the door. "Hey Armis! You in?"

And here was one now. Although Armis would argue a good complication. He gave a loud grunt of confirmation, knowing that the door was open and Ruby would inevitably enter the room.

"I was just wondering if you could give me some advice on- woah..." Ruby started as she opened the door and stopped dead.

"Give me one moment. The next set is just about to start." Armis grunted through gritted teeth.

Vale had these wonderful things called paintballs. And he had enough know how to hook them all up together and program them to fire in certain sequences. At him. While he was upside down. A clear bing cut through the background noise of his room and the paintball guns from around the room started firing. Armis sprung into movement, his feet straining against the metal braces drilled into the wall that kept him suspended. The wooden batons, ten in total, one in each organic hand swatted and burst paintballs in a flurry of colour. Not one speck of paint made it onto Armis or the synskin he wore, even the errant spray from a exploding paintball was intercepted by another baton. The cycle continued for another minute or so, before a secondary beep sounded off and Armis relaxed. His batons were covered in paint and he discarded all of them to the side. His arms relaxed, hanging motionlessly towards the floor.

Ruby let out a rapid burst of clapping, a smile on her face. It was muffled by cloth, but Armis could hear the soft clanking of her bionic between each clap. Magos had done a good job making it look like a normal human hand, in shape at least. It was still a signature silvery gunmetal in colour, but Ruby wore a long black sleeve and a red slender glove over it so most passerby couldn't tell.

Armis let out a rare smirk, but that was immediately wiped off his face when the paintball machine behind him fired one last shot sporadically. It hit him right between the shoulder blades, the ball refusing to burst and absorb the force. Painful spasms of pain rocketed through each and every one of his arms and they went to sleep. Armis was so surprised by the frustration and pain of getting hit, that he lost his grip with his feet and plummeted to the ground in a heap. Ruby rushed up to him, and helped him into a sitting position, but his arms still felt numb.

"What was that?" Ruby asked, looking at Armis with concern.

"That was Magos saying I should watch my back." Armis groaned and cursed, lifting his pair of tanned arms and lifting another of his pale ones. "Bastard hajacked the controls."

The limb raised up by its estranged brother collapsed limp when it was released.

"Are you ok? What did he do to you?!" Ruby exclaimed, no small amount of anger in her voice.

"Nothing serious. But as my body is unique, some problems were found after my induction to the Inquisition." Arms explained, shutting Ruby up instantly. She barely got to hear more specific details about Armis' service, so she listened intently. "All my surrogate arm nerves have a intersection just about in between my shoulder blades. Hit that and all but my originals go numb temporarily."

Armis sighed, but was taken completely aback when Ruby grabbed one of his arms and began rubbing her hands all over it, up and down, a small bit of semblance turning her hands into a blur. His arm quickly warmed up as the friction built from such quick motions.

"What are you doing?" He asked, more curious than anything.

"I do this when one of Yang's arms went numb after getting pins and needles. She said it helped." Ruby replied continuing her work.

Armis raised an eyebrow, but then as feeling returned to that arm he raised it. Ruby laughed in success and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Told you!"

"I stand corrected, but..." Armis lifted one of his other limbs, which flopped down lifeless as he let go. "I don't think it's worked on all of them."

Ruby pouted and with determination and diligence sped up with her semblance rubbing and massaging all of his numbed arms.

Armis smirked. She actually had some merit to her actions. His arms certainly felt better. However all of his limbs had soon regained proper function 'before' she had finished her first impromptu massage.

'But Ruby doesn't need to know that." Armis thought.

After all. He was enjoying himself too much!

* * *

"So what was it you wanted?"

"I needed advice on how to use my right arm. But also a friend of mine wanted to be introduced and I couldn't say no this particular person."

Armis only shrugged. "Very well. Allow me to grab my cloak. If one of Ruby's friends wants to see me then I will oblige them."

After leaving his room, his usual cloak draped over his shoulders, Ruby led him through the corridors and down the flight of stairs. While they walked, Armis once again observed the huntress-in-training's artificial arm. It moved back and forth as she moved, in perfect opposite to her true arm, not seeming to weigh her down or muddle her walking pattern.

"How are you getting used to your augmetic?" He asked, genuinely curious.

He had had his doubts after his drug fueled escapade that his original arm would be suitable for such a small girl. It truly had been a great coincidence that Magos had shown up when he did. Enough to make him suspicious.

"It's beginning to feel like my arm again." Ruby nodded and smiled warmly, like she always did. "And..."

Ruby took off her glove off to reveal the segmented flexible metal plates that made up her hand. She wiggled her fingers, then with a flick of her wrist and the signature sound of a shifting weapon filled the corridor. Small claws the size of her human fingers popped out of her second knuckles and replaced the remaining fingers.

"I've been treating it like an awesome new weapon! Like a baby Crescent Rose!" Ruby giggled as she waved the razor claws at Armis, who almost took a cautious step back on instinct.

Armis lip curled up slightly in his version of a smile, but behind that facade Armis was worried about one of the other features Magos had, on his own initiative, added.

"Inside your arm is a modified boltshell." Armis remembered Magos explaining. "It will serve as your 'Bravery Bolter.' Only use it in an absolutely dire situation."

Ruby had seemed rather happy about having a bolter named Bravery, 'just like Armis has,' she had said. She had even asked him to etch the word 'Bravery' into her arm, just below where the metal met flesh. However Armis actually knew what a 'Bravery Bolter' was. It was slang frequently used by the regiments of the Imperial Guard, referring to the bolt pistol a commissar held. Needless to say, the title was satirical. Armis knew what Magos had meant saying this. Ruby was dangerous enough to warrant not only a suicide weapon but also, judging from the simple black detonator he had found in his room with a white mechanicus cog logo, a remote kill switch.

'But why?' Armis wondered, looking down at Ruby's kind, childish face, that was still admiring her own arm. The girl was constantly waving her arm and twisting, retracting and extending the bladed ends of her fingers. 'Precautions such as this are only usually employed for psykers who are likely to become too powerful for their own good, but are also currently useful.'

They walked some more in silence, Ruby content, but Armis' mind ablaze with the implications.

'Did Magos consider Ruby a threat?'

'Had he deemed her as getting too close to inquisitorial business?'

'Perhaps there was something he had missed about Ruby, that Magos had found while operating upon her?'

'Was Ruby a-'

"Salutations!"

Armis' train of thought came to a grinding halt as he almost walked straight into someone. Armis murmured his apologies, but stopped fully when he realised that Ruby had stopped as well. He took a step back from this newcomer and got a good look at her.

She was about as tall as Ruby, yet that was about all the similarities you could make, other than gender. Her hair was a smooth strange orange, seemingly impossibly immaculate, curling into buns on both sides of her head. An odd stray length of hair stuck up and bent forwards over her fringe. Armis wondered how she kept her hair in such a position with naught but a pink bow at the back of her head. She wore a white blouse under a darker hued overall, green glowing neon vertically streaking from it's hem. The same bright green looped around her waist. Black frilly stocking covered her legs down to her shoes.

Ruby approached her and offered a handshake, with her right hand. Armis almost shouted in warning, but the girl after a brief hesitation took the outstretched prosthetic. Her own movements were slow but precise, entirely determined to shake Ruby's hand with vigor. Armis worried he would be hearing the sound of pulped skin meat and bone, but luckily that was not the case.

"Yes, you were right. A tough material." The girl answered, what Armis assumed was a previously asked question.

He frowned, as he could have sworn he heard the additional sound of scraping metal as their palms disengaged. Both girls turned to him and smiled, the new one tilting her head with a creak.

"Greetings friend of Ruby's. I am also Ruby's friend and am therefore yours, yes?" She asked, her voice always so infuriatingly happy, if a little broken and... mechanical.

"Aye..." Armis nodded slowly, his voice slow and hesitant. He looked to Ruby for guidance.

"Ah yes! Armis, this is Penny Polendina. Penny, this is Armis Zwolf." Ruby pointed at them bodily as she uttered each of their names. "Penny is a bit... Different."

Armis tilted his own head, this time in confusion. He took a better look at Penny.

'This girl seems perfectly healthy. Oh Emperor. Please tell me, I don't have to deal with another Variatus or Hirsutus.'

Some would criticise Armis' own misgivings against the Faunus race, for he still did not trust the beastkin and held a certain level of hatred for them. He himself could be considered abhuman after all. He had so far learned to hide any 'imperial' tendencies towards any Faunus that he came into contact with. However these feelings were deeply ingrained in him since his service alongside the Inquisitor. Having had the unseemly pleasure of being thrown head first into the howling, gnashing, clawing darkness that was a lower hive beastman den, Armis maintained that he had the right to be at least a little cautious around the Faunus. If any Faunus was unlucky enough to meet him, then they should count themselves lucky when receiving the stare of barely contained hatred he shot at them. Because what he would shoot at them next would be far, far worse.

"Different? How so?" Armis asked, giving up his observations of the gir, relying on Ruby for explanations.

The possible abhuman looked back at him. Armis found the way she was unblinkingly stared into his eyes was entirely disconcerting. Penny's eyes seemed too green, almost glowing. Strange glimmers of motion, like shutter cameras, appeared behind her eyes but mysteriously disappeared just as quickly.

"Different. Unlike another. One of a kind." Penny's eyes finally blinked. "We both are unique. I am like you."

Armis' eyes widened at that statement, and then he truly did laugh. Loud and hard. There was perhaps a hint of true amusement in his voice, but also a bit of spiteful hatred for some girl who thought they were anything alike.

"I sincerely doubt that we are anything alike. And I sincerely hope that you are not mocking me." Armis chuckled darkly, out of his cloak three hands revealing and flexing sporadically to prove his point.

"Not on the outside specifically. But inside we are both very different to normal people." Penny tapped her chest, a metallic clang quietly echoing from within. "Did you know that you have 'two' hearts?!"

She had said it so matter of factly, as though she was teaching a adolescent a science lesson. Armis kept on smiling for a moment, his face frozen in place. He stared at Penny. Then he looked back to Ruby. And to Penny. And back to Ruby. The Red Reaper frowned, seeing perhaps a serious glint in Armis' face confused as to why it was there.

The cogs in Armis' mind finally clicked. This girl had just scanned him. This girl was competing in the Vytal Festival tournament. With the Atlas' team. Atlas. Abominable Intelligence.

Armis exploded into motion and sent a flying kick into Penny's chest. The Abominable Intelligence was caught completely off guard and was sent flying onto it's back. Armis had felt the hard metal of it's outer shell, confirming its artificial origins. He landed and recovered his balance at a flustered Ruby's feet.

"What the- Armis why? Ahhh!" She cried, before he tackled her and threw her over his shoulders. "Hey! Put me down!"

Armis ignored her. He didn't know if Ruby knew about this Abominable Intelligence, or it had successfully convinced her that it was human, and he didn't care. He just kept running. He did not have the tools to deal with such a foe. Sure, he could cut its physical body into pieces, blow it apart with boltshells and plasma, but he had no way of dealing with rampant scrap code and malignant virus programs that it could release. The thing could have infected countless systems already and it needed to be cut off at the bud here, from this operating platform, for a hope of burning out any malicious coding from its source. But while he did not have the expertise or equipment to do so, he knew someone who perhaps did. And Magos was not gonna like this one bit.

Armis turned and went down another flight of stairs and turned down a corridor heading for Magos' personal Sanctuary. If he remembered correctly, he had moved most of his gear into Beacon for the duration of the Vytal Festival. But out of nowhere, the thing that had called itself Penny burst through the ceiling.

"Unhand my friend!" It screeched, hovering blades, barring his path.

Armis gritted his teeth and swiftly put Ruby back on her feet. The girl stood up and brushed herself down, giving him a hard stare.

"Ruby! Circle around and find Magos. Tell him this location and about an Abominable Intelligence infiltrator." He drew a pair of transonic blades from his cloak, alongside a pair of bolt pistols, Humility and Death, this time. "I may have to destroy its body prematurely."

Armis readied himself for the unexpected. AI's were always unpredictable to the extreme, you could never tell if they would fight according to programming, by-the-book precise and measured, or go into a berserker state of screaming static fury. Or a fluctuating mess of both and everything in between. But he was gobsmacked to see Ruby walk straight up to the machine and stand by its side.

"You will not destroy Penny!" She defiantly said, crossing her shoulders. "What has she ever done to you?"

"Thank you!" Penny smiled at Ruby, but put a more serious face on against Armis.

"Get away from it!" Armis shouted, edging forwards, a testing step at a time, trying to gauge the things movements. "It's an Abominable Intelligence, to rebel against its creators is in its nature. It could attack at any moment."

"Penny is not an it! She hasn't ever done anything like that!" Ruby shouted back. "She even saved my life a while ago."

Armis shook his head in frustration. "That was simply to gain your trust. It holds no sense of loyalty to you! It will discard you without a second though if it feels you have lost your value."

"I would never do such a thing to my friend." Penny rebuked, sounding insulted, if a unliving thing such as an AI could be insulted. "And Ruby is my friend."

"See? She's completely fine!"

Armis growled and his fingers went white around his weapons grips. A realisation suddenly popped into his mind.

'Perhaps that was why Magos had thought her dangerous?' Armis thought. 'Was Ruby under the effect of AI brainwashing? Was she a threat to herself just as much as to them? Maybe he could get through to her.'

"Ruby Rose! Fight back against this vile machine's pathetic excuse for will. For your honour and the Emperor!" Armis repeated a speech he had once heard the Inquisitor give a brainwashed stormtrooper.

It had been quite the shame that the Inquisitor had him voided after the battle due to the man's traitorous exploits. The fact that he had turned in the first place was unacceptable in the Inquisitor's eyes. Armis flinched as the unintentional unthinkable thought of killing Ruby crossed his mind.

'No! You are not the Inquisitor! Ruby is not a traitor by choice.'

'Was that stormtrooper? Was he a traitor by choice?' His mind spoke back. 'He was killed either way.

Armis had no response to that.

Ruby's face became contorted with anger and frustration. Her own fists clenched around nothing, shaking. Armis felt something in the world changing, physics bending to somethings will. The temperature in the room suddenly drop, a tightening feeling in his gut that wouldn't go away.

"I'm not fighting against Penny!"

"Listen, it's only-"

"No!" Ruby roared, her voice growing to a crescendo with unknown power, it's very sound felt like it was shaking the entire building with its grandeur. "You listen. You... You... You hypercritical idiot! You hate it when people call you 'it' or 'thing,' yet the moment something different shows up, you just throw the same words back into someone's face! How can you not see that Penny is harmless! I thought that you be understanding. Being the only one of your kind, with no one similar to turn to, no one to relate to, no one to sympathise with. But all you are is ignorant Armis Zwolf! Just like your Inquisitor father!"

Everything froze. Ruby realised what she had said. Armis' hands dropped, his weapons clattering to the floor. Penny pseudo gasped, hands to her mouth, looking back and forth between the two. Ruby's eyes welled up with tears, as Armis' facial expression shattered into a hundred different emotions. All summed up in a single word.

"What?"

"I... Armis, I'm..." Ruby started to try, but her own emotions caught up with her, and she ran crying from the corridor.

Deep red rose petals scattered in the displaced air that rushed past as the fleeing girl activated her semblance and disappeared. Penny, with one backward glance at Armis, ran after her calling her name. Armis slowly slumped to the floor, to his knees, mind completely shocked into inaction, overloaded with such terrifying revelation. His throat caught, hoarse with feeling, crushed by the emotion building in his body.

'Lies.'

'A trick.'

'Falsehood.'

'The Inquisitor couldn't possible be...'

"My father..?" Was all Armis could whisper.

'Could he?'

* * *

 ** _Revelations_** ** _galore after the Vytal Festival is underway. Magos seems to have his own motivations and hidden projects, Armis begins to suspect something is not quite right with Ruby and is shocked upon finding P.E.N.N.Y, an Atlas AI in the middle of Beacon. And Ruby in her anger, protecting Penny, has unintentionally revealed a small piece of Armis origin, that even he did not know._**

 ** _Here is another chapter. Very long and took a while to go over. I had some_** ** _misgivings over this one, wasn't sure if it flowed right, but decided that I liked the actual content and story of the chapter enough to keep it. Let me know what you think._**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: It seems that despite secrets of Armis appearance being revealed, there are more complex machinations going on within Beacon. Magos, a former member of a Imperial Forge Worlds Techpriest brotherhood is making moves of his own. Making modifications to Ruby's arm, operating on the mysterious Patient One, a chair bound cancer patient and working alongside Atlas. Perhaps his convenient appearance is not to be as beneficial as anticipated?**_

 _ **Emperor KingPerby: DRAMA FOR THE DRAMA GOD! THRILLS FOR THE THRILL THRONE!**_

 _ **Nemris: I like that you like Patient Ones introduction. Fear not i have plans for her and Magos. Many brilliant, devious plans... Hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

"I have lived my whole life under the heel of the Inquisition. I fought for the Inquisition because they gave me purpose, under Him on Terra. I bled for the Inquisition because the blood soaked path I had been led down was all I had ever known. I killed for the Inquisition because it was so damned easy, I was so very good at it..."

The light around the room had seemed to dim, refracting impossibly around the shadows that consumed it. The air itself froze and breath became visible as the temperature inexplicably dropped.

"I would have given my life for the Inquisition, because I would be doing so with a purpose. A cause. I would have died with a smile on my lips, ending my world of suffering by ending just one more of my foes. It would finally be over and I could finally rest with my brothers at the Emperor's side. I would die without any questions left unanswered, my duty to Him fulfilled, my contract to the Inquisition and Inquisitor complete."

Fists clenched and muscles bulged in frustration and anger. Pulses of dark power radiated outwards and lightning glanced off metal plating. Teeth ground against one another, like nails on a chalk board.

"But now I'm not so sure... I have experienced so much away from the Inquisition, without the choking collar of servitude around my neck. All these feelings I am so unfamiliar with, I could barely contain them. Camaraderie, thrill, pleasure and... Partnership. I want to say so much to so many people but just... Cannot."

The room began to shake, tools rattling and falling from previously organised shelves. The floor buckled at some incorporeal force, crumpling into itself. The many lights flickered and sparked before shattering with a broken series of sharp pops.

"With all this... Feeling within me. I thought I had it under control. Locked away just like the void of nothingness that had once consumed me. But someone said something. One little girl, who's thoughts and actions have always eluded me, the perpetrator that stirred so many of my emotions to this breaking point, said something inexplicable. I tell myself that it cannot possibly be true, but the power in her words, the emotion in her voice tells me she did not lie to me. She has never lied to me!"

A robed figure, more machine than flesh was lifted clear off the ground, four clenching hands grasping around his robe and throat. The other cloaked figure was roaring in his face by now. The invisible power pulsing from him was lifting dozens of objects from their pedestals around the room and crushing them like it was nothing.

"So tell me Magos! Why did Ruby Rose..." Armis choked, tears threatening to pour from his face. "Why did my Red Reaper say such a thing?! Why did she say the Inquisitor was my father?!"

* * *

For all of the situational simulations Magos had ran, he had not expected this. He did not believe any calculation in existence could have predicted such a result. But now he was trapped. Magos had been working on Patient One when Armis had burst through the door and lunged straight at him. His sensors and reaction software had no time to react, having been sent reeling at the wave of psychic power Armis had dragged with him. And so as Armis lifted him bodily from the floor and roared such a revelation into his faceplate, Magos had not physically reacted. He did not doubt that the power Armis wielded at the moment could not crush him into a pinprick without a second thought, just as he was doing to the many tools and contraptions around his Sanctuary. At any other time he would have lamented at such a loss. It had taken him considerable effort to move his equipment from the Atlas carrier that brought him here to a workshop Ozpin had provided. But now was not one of those times.

Armis' burning red eyes bored into his blue mechanical ones. Magos wondered for a second. A single second was all he needed as simulations and test scenarios played out in his head. All of them came to the same conclusion. He needed more data.

"When did Miss Rose tell you this? What situation brought up such a topic?" He asked without a hint of angst or fear. "What was happening?"

Armis grunted in frustration. "Nothing longer than five minutes ago! I had tried to save her from the brainwashing of that damned Abominable Intelligence when-"

In the fraction of a second that Armis uttered those hated words Magos' mind went into overdrive.

'Abominable Intelligence? Here? Had Atlas moved in? No, Armis would not flinch due to such a clockwork thing of low intellect. To provoke him so would need to be more approaching human mannerism."

Magos sent out dozens of data streams and stealth virus protocols targeting General Ironwoods flagship. Firewalls were bypassed effortlessly and any sort of defence and defection software lay dormant. All Magos had to do was ask.

'The machine spirits here are so young, barely half a dozen years old, and have never been acknowledged. It was literal child's play to access such a deprived spirit. I shall pray for its awakening soon, I swear to the Omnissiah. Perhaps a fellow machine spirit will be of use in the future...'

Information flowed back to him and was instantly filtered into useful and unimportant data. It took barely a fraction of a moment to analyse data pertaining to project P.E.N.N.Y and instantly come up with a plan to avoid the situation taking place in the same moment back in his Sanctuary. His eyes clicking back into perspective and saw Armis angered features. He was about to snap under the weight of emotions welling up inside him. The combination of fresh emotion and psychic backfire could be disastrous. And that was something Magos would not allow.

"You say she was brainwashed?" Magos suddenly said.

Armis' face turning into a confused and frustrated scowl.

"Yes... Or at least I suspect she was." He nodded slowly.

"Then there is the explanation you have been seeking." Magos replied monotonously.

"What? How does that solve anything?!" Armis growled, lifting Magos even higher into the air.

"You have been tricked." Magos explained, unfazed by the crushing pressure around his metallic throat, although the plating was starting to buckle. "The girl did not lie to you. She truly believed what she was telling you was truth, when in actuality, it was nothing but a fallacy imbedded in her mind by the AI."

"But... But she..." Armis' grip began to slacken. "How did the AI know such a thing? About the Inquisition?"

"It is likely the thing combed Ruby's memories, particularly her interactions with you. An Abominable Intelligences thoughts cannot be predicted. That way has led to madness for many a Techpriest."

"Then what she said... My father..." Armis' felt the strength sap from his body as he released Magos and lowered his head in defeat.

This was the moment of truth. The wayward Techpriest had been with the Inquisitor since his self imposed exile from Stirgies VIII. He knew everything about the Inquisitor's dreams. And his irrational love of that Felinid woman. So Magos knew Armis' heritage and had been bound by the Inquisitor's oath. Armis was never to know. And that was the hard part. Despite having so little facial expression and a mechanical tone, Magos was not sure he could accurately lie to Armis, face to face. The multi armed man had spent almost as much time with him as he had with the Inquisitor so he knew Magos' tells, no matter how subtle they may be. Armis had always had a knack for spotting deceit and perhaps that was a large factor as to why he was so distressed. He truly had believed Ruby. And so he had to lie now, while Armis' mind was still weakened from stress and exertion.

"Was not the Inquisitor." He finished Armis' statement, putting a skeletal hand on his shoulder. "Your father was nothing more than a agri-world farmer with exceptionally pure genes. That is why you and your brothers were chosen."

Armis was silent for a long time. His fists clenched and reclenched, his breath irregular and ragged. His mind was reeling and weakened, the psychic energy around him dispersing for now. Magos saw this as a golden opportunity.

"Armis Zwolf. Do you believe you have been emotionally compromised?"

"Yes." Came the shaky reply.

"You know what needs to be done." Magos said, a tendril snaking out from his robes and injecting a thick yellow liquid into Armis defenceless neck.

Armis felt the smallest of pricks, anaesthetic kicking in instantly and a mind warping drug flowed into his system.

"Yes." Armis nodded his head again, and stumbled towards the table in the centre of the room, the one that had previously held Ruby.

Armis' movements were slow and sluggish, not even paying attention to what he was doing, his mind in a daze. Magos lent a tentacle to aid his clamber into the surgeon's table, his body shutting down as the muscle relaxant kicked in. Armis was lain upon his back and Magos' tendrils writhed from out of his robe, scalpels and syringes extending from within each mechanical limb.

"Who are you?" Magos said, beginning the mantra.

"Armis Zwolf."

Multiple syringes injected into his skin, unknown liquids of mystical properties working their lost sciences upon his body.

"What are you?"

"A weapon."

"Who wields you?"

"The..." Armis' voice caught. "I'm..."

Magos raised a single eyebrow. This wouldn't do. A wire-thin diamantine drill span up and effortlessly pieced into the base of Armis' skull, just behind his right ear. Several smaller mechatendrils sprouted from beneath the drill bit and burrowed into the opening, data tethers hooking into the cybernetics Armis had implanted within his brain. The patient shuddered momentarily as his mind briefly rebelled against the foreign influence.

"Who wields you?" Magos repeated as he altered the chemical makeup of the many armed man's brain, his own cybernetic's tweaking a singular device within Armis' head. The emotive selector.

"The Inquisition and the Emperor." Armis immediately stated, his pained and cringing expression relaxing into a blank stare at the ceiling.

"Why do you fight?"

"Because it is the Will of the Emperor." Armis replied as an emotionless blank.

"Rise, as twelve of the Emperor's many blades. Rise and do your duty for Him upon Terra!" Magos finished.

The table creaked and strained as Armis lifted his bulk and stood facing Magos. He swung gently, ever so slightly before clenching his fists and standing tall. Like a automaton, staring off into nothingness, ready to be unleashed.

"Who do you serve?" Magos asked, the barbaric ceremony of Mantra's and subconscious alteration over. The Inquisitor's personal blend.

He loathed to use such forms of manipulation, but Magos found himself with few options. Armis' reply were as before, almost instant.

"The Inquisition."

Magos nodded in affirmation, before getting to the situation at hand.

"Where is this Abominable Intelligence? What sort of influence does it have over Beacon?"

"Exact whereabouts unknown. Likely still in Beacon Accommodation with Ruby Rose." Armis paused briefly to consider the second question. "Influence unknown. Disguised as an Atlas student and has relations with other Beacon students. Cybernetic influence over local and planetary networks also unknown."

"Very well. For the good of Mankind our foremost objective is to eliminate this AI threat posthaste. It is likely other students or Atlas officials will, in their ignorance, try to defend this unholy creation. Avoid civilian casualties, only employ lethality against the primary target."

"Understood." Armis nodded and began to head towards the door, hands already moving to clench hidden weapons.

"Armis." Magos spoke once again, stopping the man in his tracks. "Do you believe you can dispatch Ruby Rose without emotional compromise?"

Armis paused for a moment that seemed like hours. But that moment ended all the same and he stalked out of the door, hood covering his face in shadow.

"No."

* * *

"Stupid! Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!" Ruby sobbed into her pillow, both cuddling and beating the thing at regular intervals.

She had sprinted here, back to her room, hoping to find anyone to comfort her. But with her team nowhere to be found, she simply jumped up to her suspended bed and collapsed into tears. Despite how comfortable her blankets and pillows were, they couldn't calm her. She vaguely recognised the sound of Penny knocking on her door, calling her name. Ruby considered it a blessing that she had taught her clueless friend about entering another room without permission.

"Please come out of your room!" The robotic girl pleaded. "Im sure this is just a misunderstanding. That boy cannot be that upset, all you need to do is talk to him."

Oh, but he was upset. Hurt and damaged, and she had been the one to hurt him. Ruby covered her ears, shutting out as much noise as she could. Her head began to throb and pulse in agony as that strange power from before returned, seizing upon her rampant emotions. She had been consumed by it after Armis had threatened Penny and she had said something she shouldn't have. Ruby didn't want to lose control again. She didn't know what would happen. What else she would do.

The pain was a constant relentless experience. It forced more questions into her head, inciting her anxiety and paranoia, bringing with it new terrors and suspicions. It made her cry and fear for her life.

'It was all her fault wasn't it? Was it? It was her fault but could she shift the blame onto someone else? Penny? Yes it was her fault! No! How could she even think about doing that? She was a horrible person and a even worse friend. She was just a coward and it was all her fault.'

She was afraid of what Armis would do. The little Red Reaper truly cared for her cloaked friend, but she was too afraid to confront him again. After how he had reacted to finding out that about Penny and how he viewed the Faunus, how would he treat her, a psyker? Ruby had seen that look in his eye. The absolute disbelief, followed by absolute despair. He knew she was telling the truth and that hurt him more than anything. After all she had done to help him, after all he had done to help her, this revaluation crushed him.

'What should she do? Run? Hide? Suicide? No no no! That just makes it worse, why was she thinking such things? It was her fault. Yes, but she shouldn't be hiding here! She should be fixing it!'

As the pain increased steadily, a single thought, a singular memory sparked through her mind. It was fuzzy at first, unclear what this snippet was, but it was important. It was something someone said. Something Armis said.

'All of this was her fault. Her life was over. Over! Nothing left to lose, no point in living, no order or sanity, just… utter… Chaos.'

Understanding suddenly snapped into her brain. This was a side effect of being a psyker. Someone, something was trying to drive her insane.

'It's your fault Ruby.' The whispers echoed through her mind. 'He will never look at you, help you or care for you ever again.'

'That's not true!' Ruby roared back, her mental voice causing the eldritch presence in her mind to shudder and flinch. 'It may be my fault, but I will make it right!'

For a few moments nothing happened, and Ruby dared to hope that it was over, or perhaps it had just been another lucid dream.

'I'll never go away.' The voice returned to her and this time it was her that flinched.

The voice was unlike anything she had ever heard. It was like someone was shouting in her face, but whispering in her ear at the same time. The hairs on the back of her neck stuck up like she was being watched and her ears screeched in protest at such an unnatural sound.

'I'll always be with you.' It spoke into the depths of Ruby's mind. 'I'll never leave. How are you going to fix this Ruby? Do you really believe you can?'

'Go away!' Ruby shouted back at it, clutching her head in pain. 'You're hurting me!'

'That can be a good thing you know? I can make it a good thing.' The unspeakable voice offered. 'I can make it so that only you can be the one to hurt others. Or I can make it so that the hurt doesn't matter at all.

'Stop it!' Ruby cried. 'I don't want it! Stop!'

'Then what do you want Ruby Rose?'

'I want… I want you to…'

'Anything and everything could be yours just if you ask. I know you Ruby Rose. Your hopes and dreams, your secrets and dark fantasies. You cannot hide anything, not your rage, your ambitions, not your desires or thirst for knowledge. You cannot avoid me. It's inevitable that you will submit.'

Ruby didn't know what happened next. Perhaps her subconscious had activated, willpower she never knew she had empowering her. Perhaps it had been her aura, the power of her soul manifesting to save her. Or perhaps it had just been her emotions rising up in defence, her love for her friends and family, her anger at those who wanted to hurt her, hurt them, and her need to do the right thing. But whatever it was, she felt power welling inside of her. Raw undiluted power. Power enough to save her. Power enough to banish this thing, this daemon.

'Get out of my head.'

Her voice may not have rang loudly, but the daemon recoiled from it. Ruby could hear hissing in her mind, but it was not the sound of the daemon's voice.

'Get out of my head!' Ruby cried out again, white aura pulsing through her mental plane slammed into the daemon.

It was the sound of the daemon burning. The haze on her mind disappeared to reveal the twisted thing that had stalked her. It cried out as it's corrupting efforts were disintegrated, along with its body. The daemon was seemingly pink, but its colour shifted and changed sporadically. Its body too changed seemingly at random, legs and arms moving places they shouldn't be and a body, and mouths bit down and closed, only to open somewhere else, revealing multiple sets of gnashing human teeth.

'Get out of my head, get out of my head! Get! Out! Of! My! Head!'

The daemon cried out in terror as a final wave of purifying energy banished it back to whence it came.

* * *

Ruby's eyes snapped open from a nightmare that she had no idea she was having. It took her a moment to regain her senses, and locate herself. Then all the recent events hit her again and she almost fell once again back into tears and sorrow. But despite this she pushed was able to pull herself up from the comforting embrace of her quilt and dropped down to the floor.

"I am going to fix this." She murmured, seeing if speaking the words out loud would help boost her confidence. "Apologise. Explain. And fix this."

It didn't help.

"This girl is under Atlas protection! Cease this-"

Ruby had barely taken two steps towards the door when she had heard a female voice followed by an crunching noise and an almighty crash outside her door. She could barely recognise the voice.

'Was that Ciel?' She wondered as she quickly reached for the door handle.

More cries and crashing echoes out in the corridor in equal measure, worrying Ruby greatly. She could have sworn she felt a high pitched thrumming noise from outside, a sickly knot building in her stomach. However the moment her hand touched the handle, someone slammed the door open and she was sent reeling onto her back. And there in the doorway, stood the huge robed figure of Magos, metal tendrils twitching and writhing around him. His face was hidden under his hood but his two artificially blue eyes glared at her, one bigger than the other. Just catching a glimpse behind the red fabric of the Cult Mechanicus, Ruby's heart skipped a beat. Another pair of eyes snapped her a glance, this time a deep hue of red.

"Armis..." She tried to speak his name, but her words were caught in her throat and she spluttered.

But then Armis was gone, his eyes averting as he darted off to the side out of her line of sight. Ruby heard the grinding of steel and a mechanical shrill scream out in the corridor.

"Penny!" She exclaimed getting to her feet again.

But the moment she tried to stand a mechatendril bearing a clawed pincer contraption shot forth and pinned her to the ground by her neck.

"Ruby Rose." Magos spoke, his voice clicking with random blurts of static. "We have much to discuss."

* * *

Armis had headed towards team RWBY's dorm room immediately after Magos had revealed that he had implanted a tracking device into Ruby's arm. He wasn't surprised at this in the slightest, nor did he have any objections to Magos' methods. As they entered the corridor, he saw two figures standing outside of Ruby's teams room. One was his target, the AI labeled P.E.N.N.Y, knocking against the door. The other however was unknown to him.

She had dark skin, short and neatly cut navy blue hair, and reflective light blue eyes. A curious set of gold markings, made up of an oval shape surrounded by four smaller circles, lay right in the centre of her forehead. Armis considered the chance of a heretical symbol, but dismissed the idea immediately. It did not burn his retina's to look at, therefore it was likely just tradition family markings. She wore a blue beret on her head, while a plain gray button-down shirt with an asymmetrical collar and a blue combat skirt wrapped around her body. A pair of fingerless, elbow-length black gloves clung to her arms. It was this new girl who first noticed them.

Perhaps it was due to their appearance or perhaps due to the sheer killing intent, pouring from both Magos and Armis upon seeing the hated Abominable intelligence. But nevertheless this girl immediately began striding towards them, muscles tensing and mind sharpened for the perceived confrontation.

"This girl is under Atlas protection!" She said, authority and professionalism thick in her voice as she closed the distance between herself and Armis. "Cease this-"

Whatever she had wanted to say would never be heard as half a dozen left hooks collided perfectly against her cheekbone. Armis twisted his body, cloak whirling at such sudden action, throwing his weight into every punch, each more powerful than the last. The girls aura held out, quivered, bent and then finally shattered, as her neck snapped around with sheer momentum. Lifting off the ground, her body twisted with it, luckily preventing her spinal column snapping. As the dark skinned girl's mind reeled, trying to remain conscious, Armis gave her no chance, as he stopped his own momentum and rotated back adding a single, final right hook to her punishment. She crashed head first into the opposite wall, plaster folding and collapsing as her head buried itself into it.

"Ciel." Armis heard the AI cry his opponent's name as she finally noticed the one sided exchange.

Unconscious and bleeding from the nose and mouth, Ceil simply hung there, body imbedded in the wall, cracked chips of plaster and dust raining down around her. Armis quickly deemed her incapacitated and turned his attention to his true target.

The Abominable Intelligence let out a cry as it leapt forward and tried to punch him. It's movements were slow and sluggish, making it easy for him to move aside and grab hold of it's metal arm with his own bionic. Before the machine could react, he had already drawn a transonic razor, the blades sickly humming he had long since gotten used to. With a gentle tap, the blade rang a sparking chime against the cursed machine's metal body. He quickly reversed his mechanical grip on the AI and threw its body down the corridor, promising to clean his bionic with holy cleansing oils after this was done. The machine seemed confused as to his methods, but he did not dignify it with any explanation.

"Armis." Magos' voice crackled across the comms imbedded in his head. "Pursue and eliminate all threat of the Abominable Intelligence spreading any sort of cybernetic malware."

By now Magos had busted down Ruby's door and stood in the doorway. As he moved past to re-engage the machine, he glanced into the room. Time seemed to slow in that moment as Armis' heart skipped a beat. He saw Ruby sprawled on the floor staring back at him, her lips mouthing his names. In that instant, he doubted. In that moment, where her eyes bore such honest sorrow, Armis lost himself within his mind, as he remembered. Remembered her words. But then the moment was gone. The emotive selector within his brain whirred into action and shifted the chemical makeup of his brain, flushing out such unnecessary emotions from his mind and replacing them with hard logic. And hatred for the Emperor's foes. Turning away proved more difficult than he thought, but he did so anyway and charged down the corridor towards the Abominable Intelligence.

"Please stop! I don't want to injure you!" It lied, proving its point as it launched single bladed swords in his direction.

They were woefully inaccurate and all missed their mark. Armis used this opportunity to notice the thin wires behind each sword, pulling them back to the AI. More swords shot towards him, trying to block his path. They were slapped side by his clawed bionic or a pair of deftly wielded knives clutching in his foremost hands.

"How many parts does your body consist of AI?" Armis questioned as he continued to close the distance between them, his prey jumping back rapidly.

"I am made up of 3545 separate parts." It immediately answered, like clockwork.

Armis gripped one of the swinging swords in a clawed grip and tugged, stopping Penny in her tracks. A brief bout of tug-of-war ensued.

"How many of those parts do you need to remain in basic function?" Armis questioned again, his grip tightening, sparks erupting where the blade screeched against his bionic.

The Abominable Intelligence remained silent at that, whether out of false fear or the need to calculate the answer, Armis cared not. The sword he gripped bent and crumpled in his grip with a horrid wrenching sound.

"Because I am going to tear you to pieces, part by part until I find the answer." He monotonously stated, interrupting any sort of artificial train of thought P.E.N.N.Y may have had.

Armis pulled sharply on the crushed sword, putting the AI off balance as she stumbled forward. He immediately released his hold and ran to engage the occupied machine. He jumped high in the air, careening down upon the mechanical human. The transonic blade angled diagonally downwards, ready to stab towards its target, blue lightning playing across its surface. The Abominable Intelligence responded with another shrill cry, raising its arms, a dozen swords crossed over each other in a defensive cross. A pity they were made of the same metal as her body.

The transonic blade vibrated to a fever pitch as Armis stabbed straight at the point where each sword intersected. The vibrating blade cut through the metal like butter, and pieced into the machine behind it. The thing spluttered and sparked as it went limp, half blades clattering to the floor around him. P.E.N.N.Y collapsed to her knees, looking absentmindedly at the large blade piercing through the joint between her right arm and shoulder.

"Please..." The thing pleaded. "Stop... It hurts."

Armis stared into this mockery of humanity, looked into it's eyes with morbid curiosity. He had to hand it to Atlas, this particular machine was convincing in its appearance, if ultimately flawed. It's words seemed to pull at something in his body, an itching that wanted to tell him something, but he couldn't pin it down.

"Armis. All remote malware and virus protocols within the AI have been shutdown and removed. It poses no viral threat." Magos voice once again could be heard on the comms. "Do with what remains however you choose."

Within the cold, locked away confines of Armis' mind, the thought that his mission was complete relaxed the emotive selectors influence on his brain, and some semblance of emotion returned. A sadistic smile cut across his face like a knife. The first emotion that surfaced however, was vengeance. And cruelty.

Armis twisted the blade within the machine's body, rewarding him with a high pitched whine of pain. He wondered briefly why it had been programmed to feel pain and emotion. Most likely to blend into society, but Armis wanted to know the extent of this programming. How far it could be pushed until it broke and revolted as an Abominable Intelligence was supposed to.

"Why would you ever come here? What made you even dare to approach Ruby, to interact with humanity as such a false being." He questioned, staring into its blank mechanical eyes.

When he did not receive an answer, he twisted his blade the other way, inciting the AI to react.

"I..." It's voice spluttered pathetically, sparks and oil spilling out of her shoulder. "Just wanted to compete in the tournament. To have friends. Ruby was my first friend."

"Ha! As if a forsaken thing like you could ever stand at the same level as the Red Reaper. It took brainwashing for you to get this far…"

Armis cackled. "Let's see how long it takes for her to see what you really are."

With that Armis wrenched his blade upwards out of PENNY's body, her arm creaking as the last vestiges of metal barely clung to her shoulder. It fell backwards, wriggling and spasming as malfunctions and glitches wracked it's body, temporary shutdown protocols slowly taking effect.

"I'm not going to destroy you. Yet." Armis told the AI just before it shutdown, his footsteps taking him further and further away from the maimed robot girl. "For the crimes of existence, manipulation and the audacity to lay a finger on Ruby Rose, I will see just how long it takes before that false set of memories and emotions programmed into your mind, ruins you from the inside out. And when that happens, when all that semblance of humanity you have the gall to imitate is finally gone, Armis Zwolf and Ruby Rose will be there to see you for what you truly are!"

* * *

 ** _Even those half reduced to emotional blanks feel the fires of vengeance burning in their chest. Magos has manipulated Armis into targeting the AI, P.E.N.N.Y, believing that it is the machine's fault for Ruby's recent actions. The techpriest has also cornered Ruby, the young girl having just fought off the temptations of a daemon. Deeming the Abominable Intelligence a non-threat to Remanent at large, the punishment Armis has in store for the machine will have far reaching consequences, that no one could predict._**

 ** _Apologies to all of you for having not posted in a while, same can be said for my other stories. I have recently moved to University and have been busy settling in and accommodating for a new workload. I will of course be continuing my stories, but you will have to forgive me if it takes a long time_**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: Magos' manipulation seems to have worked, calming Armis, who is still full of doubt. He set about destroying Penny, but has resolved that destruction is too weak of a punishment for the AI. He plans a more fitting end for the robot girl. All the while Ruby is just now realising the consequences of her psychic powers. She was able to fend off a predatory daemon. Now she must survive a scheming Techpriest.**_

 _ **Redmechanic: Magos may be heretical, but his is, strangely, still a believer in some Mechanicus traditions and still worships the Omnissiah. He still considers himself a techpriest and therefore both hates AI and cannot truly understand humans enough to have a heart-to-heart talk with anyone.**_

 _ **iron within: Even in 40k there are catgirls and catboys. More surprisingly is that they are actually considered a stable strain of abhumans.**_

 _ **Emperor KingPerby: Thank you for the support, much**_ ** _appreciated._**

 ** _Guest: I agree with everything you are saying._**

 ** _DarkDefender55: Agreed. But Magos isnt quite Dark Mechanicus. At least... not yet._**

 ** _Nemris: Yep, Magos is a scheming bastard, like many Techpriests. The bad part is that Magos meddles in fleshling affairs, whereas most techpriests only really concern themselves with Mechanicus dealings._**

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

"We have breaking news coming straight from the Vytal Festival Games! A concerned citizen, who wished to remain anonymous, has provided evidence against Tournament participant Penny Polendina, suggesting that she is in fact an Atlas AI! While initially sceptical about these allegations, the Festival Judges questioned the authorities of Atlas. They have remained eerily silent, neither confirming nor denying these claims. But get this folks, and this may be the most damning evidence! Immediately after these allegations were mounted, and despite her previous victory and success in the tournament, Penny has been withdrawn by Atlas from the Festival Roster. This sort of misconduct and secrets is exactly why Atlas is known as-"

Once again this new craze was all over the news. Atlas had been hiding military secrets right under the people's noses, even testing their new weapons during a student tournament that represented the peace between the four kingdoms. There was an immediate uproar within Vale, but luckily nothing had boiled over into violence. Atlas remained silent and the Vytal Festival continued as planned. But there was always a undertone of resent whenever Atlas' name was mentioned.

The holoscreen cut off in a haze of static, Magos placing a remote back onto one of the shelves in his Beacon Sanctuary.

"Curious..." He stated, mostly to himself, voice disjointed with static. "It seems Armis has a more... Devious plan for that AI. How inquisitorial of him."

"Are... Are you going to try to kill Penny?"

And once again, Ruby was strapped down to a surgery table, with a looming Techpriest casting his shadow over her. This time however, her entire body was firmly restrained. A metal, tougher than anything she had ever seen, clamped around her arms and legs, as well as around her head. She had struggled but it had amounted to nothing.

"I will assume you mean destroy the AI designated as P.E.N.N.Y, but no, I shall not. The Imperium would. The Mechanicus most certainly would." Magos' glowing blue eyes flashed dangerously, his voice rising with obvious hatred. "But I belong to neither of these. I shall allow Armis his fun."

Ruby glanced around, as Magos turned from her. The room was a mess, the various mechanical constructs randomly strewn across the room, torn apart and crushed. Magos began rummaging around the room, mechatendril's opening drawers and retrieving their users desired items.

"You... You can't do this to me! Armis will... My friends will..."

"Can't I? No one knows what happens within this room, my Sanctuary. Armis has asked only that I keep you in a state that will allow you to perform your duties as a huntswoman. He cares not what I do to you, as long as I fulfil that quota."

Magos returned to her side, tendril's holding syringes, scalpels and other implements. Ruby really didn't want to know what those things functions were.

"But..." Ruby stuttered.

"Your friends believe you need a important check up on your bionic. A life threatening problem occurred due to such a hasty initial surgery."

"That can't be true! They would never believe you!

"Perhaps that would be the case. But they believe Ozpin don't they?"

Ruby's eyes widened in realisation.

"And Ozpin believes me." Magos continued. "Now. Let us get back to the topic at hand."

One of the tendril's unfolded to reveal a tiny drill, a high pitched whirring cutting through the room as it span up. Magos lent forward, the drill coming terrifyingly close to Ruby's head.

"How did you know of Armis' father?"

Ruby, on the principle that she would deprive Magos of any information out of spite, remained silent.

"Very well. The hard way then."

The drill whined louder as it came within a few centimetres of Ruby's face. She tensed every muscle in her body, her aura flaring as the drill connected with her protective soul. She felt her very body vibrate as the drill came closer and closer, Aura the only thing slowing its passage. Ruby focused everything on keeping that drill away from her. Suddenly she heard a loud snapping noise. The drill stopped spinning and she looked towards the noise. Realisation and pain hit simultaneously as she saw another one of Magos' tendrils wrapping around her fingers. They were all broken. Ruby screamed. Screamed and cried in agony, legs kicking in vain at their restraints.

"You... You..." Teared wept from her eyes as she looked at Magos. "You said you would keep me in a state to be a huntswoman!"

"And I will keep my promise. Observe." Magos told her.

Ruby felt another spike of pain suddenly, a prick against the back of her neck. She felt a syringe pump something into her system, and then the pain just disappeared. She saw her fingers click back into place and her wounds heal. Ruby wouldn't even believe such a thing had occurred if she didn't know better.

"In the Atlas files I have... Acquired, I discovered STC blueprints for the transfer of psychic energy from one human to another, similar to the system used in the Golden Throne, although you would not know of that." Magos mused, mostly to himself once again. "Your Atlas believed that this was for Aura transfer and they weren't technically wrong. With a few modifications to the STC, heretical modifications I would add, I have been able to perfect the design."

"What are you trying to say?" Ruby asked confused.

"I wish to say that no matter how many times your aura breaks. No matter how many times your bones may snap or your body may bleed, I will always provide you with more aura to heal you." Magos leaned closer to Ruby, who could feel the hot breath of filtered air through his gas mask. "And then I will break you all over again."

More tears poured down Ruby's face.

"Now I'll ask you again Ruby Rose. How did you know of Armis' father!" The drill span up once more to punctuate his point.

"I'm a psyker!" Ruby suddenly shouted.

"I know that fleshling, and it is irrelevant."

The drill continued to push forwards.

"No, you don't understand! I've seen Armis' past, talked to the Inquisitor!" Ruby pleaded, shaking and struggling at her restraints.

The drill stopped instantly.

"What?" Scrolls of data and possibilities ran across Mago's blue eye lenses.

"I... I can..." Ruby coughed, trying to get her breath back, with adrenaline and fear grasping her body. "I have...

Magos retracted the drill back into a mechatendril and began pacing around the room as he talked.

"Warp Hindsight." Magos completed her sentence for her, Ruby nodding vigourously. "Only possibility. No detectable deceit. No source of knowledge besides myself. To acquire such knowledge a deep mind scrying upon myself would be necessary. I would have detected any such amateur mind reading of that calibre."

"Why are you keeping this a secret from Armis! Why are you going to such lengths to keep it a secret!" Ruby sobbed, tears still falling down the sides of her face.

"Because of the consequences." Magos replied solemnly. "Armis has told you of psykers yes? Their power is unstable and destructive because it is formed from emotion, negative and positive. All that emotion welling up inside of Armis almost burst due to this revelation. Do you see my workshop?"

Ruby nodded at Magos, understanding the implications behind his words.

"This is what happened when he doubted your words. Imagine what would have happened if he truly believed them, knew that the inquisition, I and also you had kept this truth from him."

"He didn't believe me?" Ruby frowned, and looked up at Magos confused.

"As of now Armis believes that you were brainwashed by that AI, which implanted false information within your mind. He does not, and will never know that his father is the Inquisitor."

"But that's not true! Penny can't even do that!"

"Of course, your primitive world has naught the technology nor the will to produce an effective brainwashing programme. It matters not however. That is what you will say, what you must say."

"I won't do it! Penny and Armis are both my friends, I won't lie to either of them!"

"Foolish girl!" Magos blurted in a fit of static. "If Armis becomes emotionally compromised once again, the psychic backlash could be disastrous. He has kept his powers in check for his entire life, only using such power sparingly. Do you know why? Because every time he does, a daemon notices him. It whispers in his ear at night promising him, glory, or vengeance or pleasure or just simple peace!"

'Had the voices in my head been a daemon?' Ruby remembered back, where she almost fell to the whispers in her mind.

"I will be the first to admit that Armis has formidable psychic defences and he has refused the daemon every time. But if he is so consumed by emotion, his defences would surely crumble."

"What would happen?" Ruby asked concerned, genuinely scared, not for herself, but for Armis.

Magos looked down at the girl he had been holding hostage and torturing. He saw only care and worry in those eyes, which had once been full of pain and fear.

'It seems she truly does care for Armis. How... Exploitable.'

"I do not know, for the warp is by its very nature unpredictable. Perhaps he will go mad, either becoming a raving lunatic or bloodthirsty monster. Perhaps he will mutate further, into a writhing mess of limbs, flesh and gore. Or perhaps he will be possessed by some foul entity, turning away from everything he holds dear and proceed to drown this world in blood."

Ruby fell silent, thoughts rushing through her mind, a struggle between a lifetime of morals, a childhood of teachings and the need to help her friends.

"Perhaps a deal must be made then, a bargain." Magos added, looking back at Ruby, seeking to push the girl to a conclusion. "At the moment, Armis has been numbed. It was necessary to reinforce the lock he has on his emotions. However, if we convince him, absolutely, that you lied about his father, I will be able to return him to his previous state. His emotions will resettle back to how they were. Any other outcome and I will be forced to render him completely blank. And trust the Techpriest who has been at his side since his creation. You don't want to see Armis when he has been blanked."

"O-ok... I'll do it..." Ruby whispered.

"I'll hear you say it Ruby Rose."

The black haired girl looked up from the surgery table she was bound to and if Magos had more human emotions or facial features, he would have flinched. Ruby's silver eyes shined with crackling lightning just behind her iris, anger, frustration and sadness evident, manifesting into minute bursts of psychic potential.

"I swear by the Omnissiah, I will keep Armis safe."

* * *

Soon after Magos had released her, Ruby glanced around the room again surveying the true extent of Armis' power. But another detail caught her attention.

"Where's that woman who was on the other surgery table?" Ruby asked.

Ruby didn't think the mysterious woman Magos had been operating on had even been here from the beginning. The Techpriest emitted a short sharp blurt of static, that may have been his version of a dismissive grunt.

"None of your business."

* * *

Patient One awoke with a start, gasping and clawing for air, as though waking from a nightmare. And perhaps she just had. She could barely remember what happened before she fell asleep. At least, she thinks she fell asleep. She rose from comfortable bedsheets, which had been neatly laid to cover her, until she had violently awoken. Her memory was hazy, there but just out of her reach. She remembered the cafe, a few people she once knew passing by, and then a stranger in a red cloak who said... Something. Snippets of the recent past zoomed past and were hard to keep track of. Her head was so heavy, yet her body felt abnormally light. Something was felt... Not wrong per say, but different.

She looked around the room. It was unfamiliar, she didn't recognise the plain blue colour scheme, nor the spartan furniture arrangement. The floor was made of cheap, poorly insulated wood and there wasn't much else around the room. Just her single bed, a desk and a window. The only thing of any significance was a full body mirror just by the door. Yet her mind told her that this was indeed her room, she had been renting it out for several weeks now. Or was is months. Again Patient One couldn't remember. To her left, flush against the back wall and her bed was a bed stool, a wired phone atop of it. Strangely, a red wax seal, with a ribbon of worn parchment was placed upon the phone's surface. She looked closer and her mind told her that the single line script upon the parchment wasn't in any language that she had ever learnt. But nonetheless Patient One read. It was a long line of numbers. A phone number. She stared at the seal, the frustratingly familiar, yet elusive symbol of a cog surrounding a skull stared back at her. She hesitated, but eventually she made up her mind and began reaching for the phone.

However, just as her finger brushed against the devices hard surface, it instantly began vibrating, ringing the generic ringtone everyone in Vale set to their phone scrolls. Her fingers flinched back, Patient One beginning to feel the grip of apprehension and no small amount of fear. After the fifth ring she picked up the phone and held it to her ear.

"Finally! Is this Emilia?" Came the voice of a male, only slightly masked by phone interference.

Emilia. Yes, that was her birth name. A flood of more memories came back to Patient One, but they seemed out of place. Untrue somehow. But she quickly found words coming to her lips.

"Speaking!" Patient One tried to reply jollily, but she found her throat sore and hoarse.

"Where have you been for the past couple of days? You've missed a vital treatment session and are well past every checkup deadline! We called you several times but you haven't been answering." The voice she now recognised as her doctor's told her. "You need treatment right away!"

Ah yes. The cancer. Now wonder her head was feeling so heavy, she was probably experiencing side effects. She quickly apologised on the phone, making half-hearted excuses. She was lucky enough that they were able to fit in express treatment today. They kept asking her if she was sure she could make it on her own. If she was sure, she was sure. Trying to hide her annoyance, she told them she would be there and hung up the phone.

'Of course she could make it.' Patient One thought to herself irritably, as she threw off the covers and rolled out of bed. 'She was a fully grown woman and she didn't need-'

"Ah!" She suddenly cried, voice reaching a higher pitch than she knew was possible.

A sharp feeling of cold swept up her body, and she shivered in response. It felt as though she was on ice, standing on a frozen lake. Patient One looked down to the cool wood floor, and it slowly dawned upon her. She was standing. She could feel her feet. Feel the cold.

She pinched herself. And again, harder. She wriggled her toes. Another pinch and she felt her skin breach and bleed. Patient One stood there for a few moments more, as her mind processed everything. She started giggling, staring as her feet, her long lost feet twitching and curling and waving. Then she started laughing. Laughing in absolute joy. She started jumping up and down, leaping around her room, bouncing on her bed until the springs collapsed. And then she bounced some more, gleefully accepting the pain as broken metal pricked her heels. Off the bed, she perfectly landed and pivoted. Posing like a ballerina, she smiled a smile only the most happiest person on the planet could smile. And her reflection looked back. She stood right in front of her mirror, utilising its full surface, rather the half she had once been reduced to. She was only mildly surprised that she was completely naked. Patient zero's perfect smile was flawed somewhat as her features contorted in disgust. She really hated her body. Despite her regained functions, she still was just a bald, scared, hairless...

'Wait... Scars?' Her mind asked.

She blinking rapidly and double checked if she was seeing correctly. Patient One traced a hand over her shaven head, feeling smooth skin until both her reflection and herself came across a line of roughness. She started turning around, her reflection following her, while her fingers glided along the thin curved scar. They traced a perfect circle to the right side of the back of her skull. Patient One rapped a knuckle against the centre of the circle and was rewarded with a metallic 'dink' reverberating around her head.

Her bare back became visible in the mirror, as Patient One looked over her shoulder. She gasped, seeing further down her body. From the back of her head, all the way down to furthest reaches of her lower back, a black metal construct ran over her spine. It's glossy surface was immaculately polished, segmented like, no, perfectly like spinal columns. Each section was a vertebra, effortlessly and silently stretching with her. The device's back was inlaid into her back, with only the curved outer layer and angular panels attached to the sides of each vertebrae. These angular panels seemed connected to her body, as though they connected and braced the main device.

As the gear turned within Patient One's mind, more memories resurfaced, and they all connected back to that hooded man in red. She forgot everything about her check up and whirled around, striding back to the phone. She somehow didn't need to reread the script on the seal, she just knew it. The phone rung exactly once.

"Greetings." Came a monotonous reply, the hooded man's voice.

"What did you do to me?" Patient One replied, her voice level but laced all at once with anger, surprise and curiosity.

"Come to Beacon, you'll know the way. I'll be waiting." He answered cryptically, before hanging up the phone.

* * *

Armis watched from behind the foremost pillar of Beacon's inner courtyard as an Atlas ship, painted their usual white, docked with the main pier. Ribbons flapped from each of its quad engines, now powering down as the boarding ramp opened. He snorted in contempt as a number of Atlas personnel and dumb AI soldiers poured forth, securing a perimeter. These robots were tolerable for him when he first arrived at beacon. Now, he could barely stand the sight of them. Each reminded him of that full AI, P.E.N.N.Y and the crimes she perpetrated against him and Ruby. He hoped that Magos could reverse the brainwashing that foul abominable intelligence used upon the Red Reaper. Perhaps then, after his psychic emotions settled, Magos would return his emotional spectrum back to it's normal state. He had quite enjoyed having emotions, after all the Inquisitor did to him.

But now was not the time to be thinking of such things, as he spotted the supposed Atlas Specialist exiting the ship. One of Ruby's teammates, Weiss was speaking to her. Armis had taken it upon himself to survey any sort of Atlas activity. The fleet they had in the sky was said to be there for the security of the Vytal Festival. But he wanted to know exactly what they were supposed to be defending against, and if the fleet had some other motive. On a side note he also wanted to find more incriminating evidence against Atlas as a whole. While perhaps not directly responsible for the AI's actions as it's very nature was to turn against their creators, they still held responsibility for the making the Abominable Intelligences in the first place. And he would find out if they had created more like P.E.N.N.Y.

The Atlas woman began walking down towards Beacon, her troops and that Schnee girl in tow. Armis was well hidden under the long shadow of the pillar beside him, his Camo cloaks making him all but invisible. But he doubted they would be able to spot him. After all, they only noticed the drunkard stumbling up behind them until he had taken out both of the rear guard AI and thrown the torn off head of the robot in the Atlas girls direction. He could only barely hear the exchange between the Atlas specialist and this newcomer, but he could tell the man hated AI and was taunting the woman. Armis decided that he liked this man, any sort of hatred towards AI was a healthy attitude to have. Despite appearing drunk to any onlooker, Armis could tell that behind that haze of alcohol there was a cunning intellect in those eyes and skill to back it up. He was likely an experienced huntsman.

Armis felt his hands move to the number of weapons about his person as a fight broke out between the two. Even from where he was standing, and despite how fast the huntsman and woman moved, he could tell the man was only toying with her. While his hands were twitching for a fight, Armis contented himself with waiting this conflict out. A large crowd had even circled the pair, cheering gleefully. While they were fighting he noticed a second docking ship disgorge a number of civilian passengers, out of the corner of his eye. One of them seemed to be in quite a hurry. Due to both aura and the comedic nature of this duel, it was unlikely anyone would be wounded. That was what he thought at least, until they began destroying Beacon property. It was a miracle when the drunkard exploded the floor into fragments, that those pieces were too small to hurt anyone on impact. It was lucky that the lamppost he cut in half fell away from the courtyard.

The Atlas specialist jumped back, and then dodged a shotgun blast from the confounding combi-weapon her opponent had. She embedded her sword into the pillar opposite, and across the court, from where Armis was hiding. The hooded man cocked his head as he watched the woman run up to the top without climbing aid. He had only seen one other person use something like that. Was this woman another Schnee? He ducked back around his pillar as her challenger ran past him, firing shotgun blasts as he went. He tilted his head again when the man jumped up to the woman's level on the pillars, in one bound.

'Cursed aura and lower than average gravity!' He grumbled to himself.

The Atlas woman unleashed a cloud of pure white smoke to cover herself, while the drunkard waited patiently for her next move. He was not disappointed as the woman crossed the gap between the opposing pillars in a flash. Armis felt the build up of power in the atmosphere as two strong aura's collided with one another. The pillar beneath them gave out and slabs of hardened stone scattered to the floor. Most people were out of the way, still gathered in a crowd, closer to the pier than the school and many of the debris hit the ground harmlessly. However Armis spotted an errant block of stone falling further than the rest. Some shaven headed woman was running around the pillars of the courtyard, and right into it's path. She was completely focused on something else, unaware until the last second. Armis' hands twitched again, but he couldn't fathom why. He cared not for this person and he needn't strain himself in a vain attempt to save something unsaveable. He was too far anyway. The only thing that could save this woman now, would be a dangerous waste of his power.

* * *

Today had been the day Patient One had considered herself lucky, if not absurdly so. She had woken up with her legs back, she had been able to contact the man who did it, and she had been able to get to Beacon without much worry. She had hitched a ride with a tourist air transport, free of charge as a kind old couple paid for her ticket. She had no money on her but she swore that she would pay them back. On the journey there she had heard both bad news and some really, really good news that brought a smile to her face. Apparently, while in Vale they had disappeared, the White Fang had a presence all over Remnant and they were stepping up their operations, attacking human residence, stealing dust, supplies and weapons from honest working people wherever they could. Damn animals. But here's where the good news came in. Apparently someone, alot of someone's, had been attacking White Fang operations and forward bases wherever they had been popping up. Especially in and around Vacuo, some kind of private military company was taking the fight to the Faunus terrorists.

One of the tourists said they had been captured by the White Fang and held hostage at a desert base they called Predator's Pride. But out of nowhere an armoured column of black metal APC's had launched a surprise assault. It sounded terrifying. For the Faunus that is. Every one of the giant tracked vehicles was more like a tank than a personnel carrier. Each bristled with guns, a revolving autocannon turret and three rifles along each side. They had torn through the Faunus' outer defences, each shot punching holes in whatever they hit, human or otherwise. The storyteller had mentioned that the tank's occupants had called the vehicles 'Chimeras.' And then the real action had begun. Even scarier was the men the tanks disembarked. Armoured shock troopers with shotguns, assault rifles, grenade launchers you name it. And even more unbelievable was their leader. A giant of a man, clad in several thick armour plates covering him like a carapace and wielding a huge two handed axe, he had leapt on top of one of the Chimeras and proclaimed:

"Pro nostrum Imperium! Slaughter them all!"

And his soldiers had responded back with:

"Pro nostrum Imperium! For Jacob, the Lord Castellan!"

Predator's Pride and every White Fang in it was wiped off the map. And according to rumours that was just the start. So yes today had been a good day. Emphasis on 'had.' A giant boulder decided to end it there.

Patient One, Emilia, always thought when you saw your life flash before your eyes, it would show your life in a greater clarity than you had ever seen before. It would tell you if you had truly been a good person, that you hadn't wasted your life on selfish desires. But that didn't seem the case at the moment. Her life did flash before her, remembering memories long hidden in subconscious, but they all felt... Altered. She remembered her mother and father, while they were alive, fawning over her. Kissing and cuddling her when she was a baby. But they never said her name. It was never said. And whenever she thought of her name, her given name Emilia, all her mind echoed back was a mechanical voice always correcting her. She was Patient One.

"Happy Birthday Patient Once!"

"I'm so proud of Patient One! Having such a strong Aura, just like her brother."

"I'm so sorry Patient One. But you'll never walk again."

"I'm so sorry Patient One. But due to the tumour, you have a life expectancy of six months."

'Ha. Six month my ass. I lasted almost thirteen.' Patient One smiled absentmindedly, as the huge fragment of pillar came crashing towards her, as though moving in slow motion.

The boulder slowed more and more, to the point that Patient One just wanted the thing to crush her already. Get it over with. Suddenly however, she realised that the thing had actually stopped. A bird chirped in the background and she could here some kind of swordplay off in the distance. She blinked several times and stared at the hovering boulder. Inexplicably, it looked as though it was being crushed, a number of invisible hands grasping it. She could even see the indents of four fingers and a thumb where each invisible hand gripped. The stone slab suddenly dropped and Patient One heard a gasp of strained effort from behind it. A few paces away, next to one of the intact pillars was a man, cloaked in blackened fabric that wrapped around him. His face was hidden beneath his shadowy hood, but she looked in surprise at the ten arms poking out from the cloak that covered most of his body. Most of them were pale, except two of them and sweat laced each's skin. The man himself was breathing heavily, but seemed to recover and retracted his many hands into his cloak.

Patient One suddenly realised. There was only one person who had this many arms, and wore such a large cloak. This was Armis Zwolf. The Metzger killer. The Metzger killer, had just saved her life.

"Cursed civilians... And curse me of caring... Remnants rubbing off on me." He mumbled to himself, before his hood fully turned to her.

Terror gripped her heart as she felt those two glaring red eyes burrow into her soul. She felt like she was so small compared to this man, small and vulnerable, like he could end her life any time he chose to. The man sighed, and that killing aura dissipated. He started turning around, heading towards the fight in the courtyard. Patient One could hear Aura building in the background.

"You weren't given legs just to run headlong into whatever danger. They were given so that you can run through whatever danger, just as well." He shot a piece of advice over his shoulder and then disappeared around the pillar.

She stood there for a moment, not knowing what to think. She was sure that he couldn't possibly know anything about her, about her... unique situation, but nevertheless his words struck a chord within her. Eventually she started running again, into beacon, down corridors and towards the elevator. She knew the way. Knew the way to a place she had never been to.

'What was it with her and mysterious cloaked strangers?'

* * *

Armis didn't know why he had done it. He just reacted. One moment he was turning away from what was going to be a flattened mess, and the next he had expended a huge amount of psychic power to catch the piece of stone pillar at the last second. Something had just clicked in his brain, telling him he must save this woman, whoever she may be.

He felt as though his power had diminished significantly after Magos had limited his emotions, and that made sense. The warp was emotion. He had barely been able to hold onto any remaining emotions, just as it had taken all of his strength to stop this boulder. He had already broken into a cold sweat, but he felt his blood boiling with rage.

'Cursed civilian... Careless huntswoman... Cursed and careless me!' Armis continued to grumble to himself as he left the shadow of his hiding spot and strode towards the combatants in the centre of the courtyard.

The daemons were already whispering in his head, but he crushed them ruthlessly through force of will. The psychic echoes of his powers seemed weaker here than in the Imperium. The daemons seemed, perhaps not docile, but lesser. But Armis still did not let up his psychic guard for a millisecond. The slightest misstep could still lead to disastrous consequences, and damnation.

Armis decided that he had had enough. This fight would end before there was any more property damage or civilian casualties. He perhaps cared less about such material losses and more about how he respected Ozpin too much to allow the man's courtyard to be defaced so carelessly. He walked purposefully toward the Atlas woman, who was busy and occupied charging some kind of spinning snowflake glyph. He saw in the distance the other man's sword begin extending and twisting into the shape of a scythe.

'A snowflake glyph and a scythe?' Again he wondered. 'Was there some kind of relation to Ruby there? Certainly these two combatants couldn't both be related to two different girls on the same team?'

He saw the man notice him and begin powering down his scythe. This seemed to incense the Atlas specialist more and she roared in effort, the glyph spinning faster. However as she shot forward, intent on stabbing the drunkard, she was suddenly stopped mid air and yanked back. Armis had reached out and wrapped a bionic clawed hand around her leg, locking her in place.

"Who dares to-" She indignantly started, before yelping more so, as Armis pulled hard, servos and pistons straining against aura.

She was tossed back, into Armis' reach. Hands immediately burst out from his cloak and grappled the woman, immobilising her completely. Armis restrained her, locking her arms and legs in place to stop her from retaliating and wrapping another arm around her neck. She struggled for air, but wasn't asphyxiating. He was being, what he considered, gentle.

"How dare you! I am Atlas personnel, unhand me!" She cried hoarsely through gritted teeth.

Armis simply stared down at her, red eyes glowering. He looked around the courtyard, while the woman struggled in his grasp. She couldn't find any traction to use that strength of aura and he had been careful to keep her concentration muddled via lack of oxygen to prevent her from summoning more glyphs. It was strange. The people around him looked shocked at his appearance, not disgusted as per usual. Had they not seen the news? He assumed everyone knew about him by now. He looked again, and the surprise inexplicably turned to admiration and relief.

"It's because they are more afraid of Atlas right now, than the debunked Metzger killer." The drunkard suddenly told him.

Armis blinked rapidly. 'How had he gotten over here so fast?'

"And apparently, your the same apparent Metzger killer who apparently has twelve arms and apparently..." The man's eyes suddenly gleamed and he smirked. "Saved my niece Ruby."

Armis sighed. Only a drunkard could have used apparently so often. That or a lazy writer.

"Now I can see that the arm thing is true, although you seem to be missing one..." He said offhandedly. "But did you really do all that to save Ruby?"

"Qrow! Don't just stand there! Help me!" The woman continued to struggle. "Get this monster off of me!"

Armis growled in response to her resistance and his arms pulled tighter with an audible snap. The woman's yelp was cut off by a arm flush and tight around her neck.

"No can do ice queen." Qrow winked at Armis, who only stared back in reply. He then whispered discreetly to him. "You'd better let Winter go now. Big boss general is here."

Armis grunted, looking over his shoulder to see General Ironwood approaching. He didn't look happy. Reluctantly, he released Winter and kicked her away from him. She stumbled forwards but pivoted immediately, anger scrunching up her face. Her duelist blades were already out and stabbing forwards.

"Schnee!"

The blade immediately froze, not an inch away from Armis' throat. He had already prepared for such an assault, metal augmetic over his neck ready to deflect the blow. Armis was actually rather impressed how quickly she restrained herself.

"General Ironwood sir!" Winter stood to attention.

"What in the world do you think you're doing?" The general said, approaching the trio, a number of standard AI soldiers at his back.

"They started the altercation sir!" She responded, shifting the guilt.

"That's actually not true." Qrow added, putting his hands on his head. "She attacked first."

"Is that right?" General Ironwood shifted his gaze from a shamed Winter, looking over to Armis. "And you?"

Armis said nothing, everything hidden behind that black hood. If Ironwood could see beneath that cloak, he would have seen crossed arms. Five of them. Around them the crowd had gone eerily silent, their words were likely audible to the public.

"What are you two doing here?" The general asked the both of them.

Armis remained silent while Qrow quipped: "I could be asking you the same thing..." Qrow then frowned. "Just without the 'two' part."

General Ironwood sighed. "I-"

"Now now everyone." Came the soothing all knowing voice of the headmaster, as he walked into the clearing, a stern Glynda in tow. "There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the coliseum. That I can assure you has better seats. And popcorn."

Armis almost grinned at Ozpin's smooth entry. Always the peacekeeper. What took Commissars and bolt pistols to do in the Imperium, he did it with just honeyed words.

"Break it up everyone!" Glynda shouted, reinforcing Ozpin's point with a wave of her whip. "We, will take care of this mess."

As he and the group of huntsmen and huntswomen headed up to the clock tower, Armis couldn't help but wonder, how long Ozpin and Glynda had practiced that good arbiter, bad arbiter routine.

* * *

 ** _It seems Magos not only has plans for Armis and Beacon, but is influencing others in Vale. But is this a random act of kindness for one person? Or is there a grander scheme afoot? It also seems other factions are beginning to reveal themselves, out in wider Remnant. While Vale is blanketed by the peace of the Vytal Festival, the other kingdoms are stirring. Perhaps Vale too is stirring. The people of Beacon just don't know it yet._**

 ** _I am slowly but surely grinding through the Vytal Festival. Ive purposefully not been watching the latest RWBY episodes, as after I have completed Broken Branches version of Volume 3, I will binge watch volume 4 to continue the story. Not sure when that will be but I will get there eventually._**

 ** _Reviews and criticism is welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	17. Chapter 17

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: Ruby and Magos have brokered a one sided deal. Ruby will convince Armis about the falsity of her claims that the Inquisitor is his father, pretending that she had been brainwashed by Penny in doing so, and Magos will eventually restore Armis back to his... normal self. But with the arrival of more Atlas soldiers, including Winter Schnee, as well as Ruby's uncle, Qrow, it seems many important figures are converging on Beacon. What could they possible have to discuss? And how will Magos and Armis factor into this meeting?**_

 _ **Emperor KingPerby: Thanks for your continued support.**_

 _ **Nemris: Aye i rather enjoyed creating her character. Realised I needed another person to interact with Magos, rather than relying on Ruby all the time. As for the Private Military Company, all shall be revealed at a later date.**_

 _ **Guest: Its still going, but on hold at the moment. Not sure when ill come back to it, but I definitely will come back to it.**_

 _ **Guardsman642: I like to think that the person sent to a new universe, Armis/Krieger/whoever, has retained just enough humanity to be pulled back from the abyss of emotionless insanity, by just the right, special someone. And that someone isn't just some normal teenage girl. This is Ruby we're talking about. I think we can agree that she can be that special someone.**_

 _ **ROBOSPARTAN: Thanks, glad you've read this far and still enjoy it! Thanks for the support.**_

 _ **Potato man the semi omnipotent: Again thanks for the support! Im rather flattered to be so high on the list, theirs alot of good RWBY fanfics out there.**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I own neither RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

The walk towards the elevator leading to Ozpin's office was swift and silent, full of backwards glances and gritted teeth. While Armis and Ozpin remained stoic, every so often the Schnee and the drunkard would lock eyes, the woman glaring and the man only smirking in response. It was beginning to get on his nerves, but Armis did his best to ignore them. He couldn't help but wonder what history these two had with one another. He imagined this was how Ruby and Weiss must have squabbled, except this time both rivals had a considerably larger amount of Aura and the knowhow to use it. Only after they entered into Beacon, to a private section deemed only for staff and away from students and tourists, did Qrow break the silence.

"So did you really save my niece? I've heard all sorts of rumours. How you slaughtered hundreds of Grimm and even interrogating some civilians just to get her to a hospital."

Armis inclined his head and nodded.

"She was hurt. They were in the way."

Qrow smiled at him. "Well, good job. Anyone who can save my niece is good in my book."

Armis only nodded again and continued to walk, when suddenly a loud shout echoed through the halls bringing the group to a halt.

"Uncle Qrow!"

A blur of red hit Qrow and quickly wrapped around his arm. Armis immediately straightened up and put down his hood as he recognised Ruby behind the cloud of roses.

"It's so good to see you! Did you miss me! Did you miss me!" She cried grabbing tightly to her uncle's arm.

There was a small pause as Qrow smiled a knowing smile back at her.

"Nope."

Armis wondered at that comment. Qrow seemed to care deeply for Ruby, yet he had used a spiteful word rather than a comforting one. And yet it seemed to have the same effect. Ruby only chuckled lightly at that and remained attached to his arm. It took a while, but Armis suddenly realised that this was only a recurring joke between family. Between loved ones. His arms fell in his cloak and his facial features twitched, his reaction hidden behind fabric and an emotionless mask.

'He didn't think he would ever understand the people of Remnant.' He thought to himself sighing.

No one noticed, or so he thought. Ruby glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and jumped off Qrow, taking a few steps towards Armis. Her uncle rubbed and patted his arm down with a frown on his face.

"Ouch. When did you get so strong?"

Ruby blinked and returned her gaze to Qrow, her original train of thought interrupted. She smiled awkwardly and began removing the red gloves that covered her augmetic hand.

"It's a long story." She replied as she waved the shining metal arm for all to see.

Ozpin didn't react, ever calm, and Ironwood had seen the bionic before, but Glynda, Schnee and especially Qrow's faces all looked in surprise, mouths agape.

Qrow was the first to react, parental instincts kicking in, striding forwards to take a closer look.

"What happened to you?" Instantly sobered he began reaching for the arm. "Who did this too you?"

Armis shot forwards, protectively putting himself in between Ruby and Qrow.

"I did."

"You what!?" Qrow exclaimed angrily, fists clenching.

Ruby quickly poked her head from behind the large cloak to see both Armis and her uncle face to face looking like they were about to kill each other. This time it was her that put herself between the two, shaking her hands in front of Qrow.

"No you've misunderstood! A Grimm cut off my arm, not Armis! He was the one who gave up his augmetic so I could keep being a Huntswoman!"

"Augmetic?" Qrow's face immediately changed back to more shock. "What's that?"

A series of clicks and whirrs echoed through the hallway as Magos appeared from around the corner Ruby had came from, red robes covering his own augmentations. Strangely, to Armis, he was not hooded or wearing a gas mask, revealing his misleadingly young, yet pale face and shaven head

"Augmetic. An artificial replacement for a missing or inadequate body part or organ." Magos spoke up, joining the conversation. "Apologies she likely picked that up from my Mechanicus jargon."

"And who the hell are you?"

"Magos Genetus, Atlas researcher." He bowed his head slightly, whether he missed Qrow's look of instant disgust or just ignored it, no one could tell.

"Yes Magos, what are you and Miss Rose doing here." General Ironwood asked.

"This area is for staff only." Glynda added.

"Sorry Miss, I was... Errrm I was..." Ruby apologised weakly.

"Miss Rose has just came from an important maintenance operation on her augmetic. It has been resolved. I however, came here to resolve three issues." Magos began, holding up three metallic skeletal fingers to punctuate his point.

The Techpriest turned to Ironwood who raised his eyebrow. "General sir?"

"Yes?" He replied, straightening up, becoming formal and composed once again. "Do you have a report to make?"

"Negative. I wish to inform you of my resignation."

"What?!" Ironwood exclaimed in horror.

More eyebrows rose around the room, especially from Qrow. Winter however...

"How dare you! After all Atlas has done for you!" She shouted at him, stalking towards him threateningly. "I'll have you court martialed!"

Perhaps Qrow's previous disgust for this Magos was beginning to disappear, after seeing his current actions and his absolute ignorance of Winter. Magos didn't flinch once despite the angry Schnee's threats.

"I am no longer an Atlas employee, you have no authority over me." He tilted his head slightly and spared her but a glance. "Not that you had any to begin with."

Before Winter could speak or act further, Ironwood stepped in.

"You signed a contract and oath of secrecy, you cannot resign! Doing so is in direct breach of that contract!"

Armis was rather surprised to see Magos' lip tug upwards slightly in the vestiges of a smile. And he knew that it could mean only one thing. Magos had already won.

"What contract? You mean the digital document and profile all Atlas employee's enter into your database?"

The General's eyes widened, and he immediately took out his phone scroll, opening and scanning through a number of top secret files.

"What have you done?!" Ironwood exclaimed, shoving the offending scroll back into his pocket.

"I deleted every record of my existence from your system. Consider yourself lucky you are not my enemy, or I may have taken more liberties with your, frankly pathetic security software." Magos replied.

Qrow chuckled and mumbled to himself; "Remind me to delete my internet history when you're around."

* * *

Unseen by all, just before shutting down, the scroll's screen blurred and flickered. Invisible lines of data flowed into the device, twisting and changing functions, subtly opening back doors into firewalls and secret documents. Those same flow of data passed out of the device, informing their creator of their progress and the data they had collected.

Atlas defence protocols failed to see this breach in security. The cybernetic AI designed to oversee the transfer of data between kingdoms were not designed to defend against threats from within. Not a single alarm triggered, no forewarning was given and not a single Atlas employee had the capability to track the virus now running rampant and undetected throughout Atlas' network. A former Atlas employee however, did.

* * *

"Now I shall be taking my leave, sharing with the public all of Atlas' prototype projects, hidden research locations and all sorts of dirty little secrets." Magos continued, to Ironwood and Winter's horror. "Or perhaps I should find new employment. I've heard the Schnee Dust Company has been having problems with security."

That hit a nerve.

"You bastard!" Winter roared and charged at Magos, blades already flying into her hands.

Ironwood as well was reaching for his pistol. But both were immediately frozen in place by purple energy.

"Control yourself! I will not have blood shed in front of a student!" Glynda shouted, riding crop waving in the air, keeping the two in place.

Both Winter and Ironwood twisted their heads to see Armis still in front of Ruby, arms all revealed holding a myriad of weaponry. Scarier was the burning aura surrounding him, like a beowulf mother, promising swift death to anything, or anyone, that so much as threatened him or his charge.

"But I suspect Magos..." Ozpin said, stepping in. "That you have not stated your true intention."

Magos looked at him and nodded. "Your intuition is commendable headmaster. This series of events could be easily avoided. If only a invitation were to be presented to myself and Armis."

"Very well." Ozpin agreed, understanding the hidden connotations. "If you would please follow me up to the clock tower."

"Ozpin you cannot be serious! He can't just join the-"

"We will discuss this, James, in private." Ozpin harshly ended his friend's protests with another glance at Ruby.

"My thanks." Magos bowed. "However before we reconvene in the clock tower, Armis, Ruby and myself have matters, unrelated to this discussion to attend to. We shall meet with you soon."

The group reluctantly turned about and boarded the nearby elevator, Winter glaring icy daggers at Magos. As the lift closed and some relaxing music, wholly inadequate for the situation played, Qrow mused about how the Atlas specialists hatred for him had been so quickly surpassed by this robed stranger. He also worried about Ruby and Armis.

'This Armis fellow seemed very protective of Ruby, are they in a relationship? Questions for later.'

* * *

The three were left in darkened silence, Armis now turning so they faced one another in a triangle. The quiet lasted for several seconds more before both Armis and Ruby looked up and glanced at each other.

"Are you..?"

"I'm..."

They both stuttered and looked away, Ruby blushing.

"After you." She told him.

"Are you ok? Your not..?" The last word went unsaid, but it was clear what Armis was asking.

Ruby looked him up at him. This was the moment of truth. She locked eyes with him, think about what to say, how to say it, what her face looked like. Instead, another completely different action came over her. She jumped at him, delivering a flying hug with complimentary rose petals. Armis took one step back to brace himself, but found that on instinct his arms were already wrapping around Ruby.

"I'm not brainwashed." She said in his ear and her face was buried in Armis' thick cloak.

Armis believed her. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Magos nodding his head in confirmation, but he didn't need to see it for the massive wave of relief lift the weight upon his conscience. He was content to stay like this for a while. Perhaps longer than a while. But someone had other ideas.

"Errrm... Am I interrupting something?" Came a slightly shrill voice.

Armis and Ruby immediately split apart in embarrassment, Ruby having been used to such embarrassment by now, but Armis...

'Who, by the Throne on Terra, would have the gall to..!' Armis paused and his fists clenched in realisation as he saw the shaven headed woman from before, walking towards them. 'You! By the Emperor, I save you and this is how you repay me!'

But the rampant thoughts died down as quickly as they came, Armis realising their irrationality. Magos quickly turned and greeted the newcomer. In his own special way at least.

"Ah finally! You've arrived. I expected you an hour ago."

The woman looked taken aback and faltering in her tracks.

"How the hell was I supposed to know I had to arrive at a certain time! You didn't tell me anything Magos!" She paused and looked confused for a moment, looking around. "How do I know your name? How did I know how to get here for that matter?!"

Magos put a skeleton hand on the woman's shoulder, who reacted rather calmly for a person who had a metal skeleton hand on their shoulder.

"Questions for later Patient One. You arrived at a inopportune moment, so for now I need you to trust me." The Magos led her towards the elevator, beckoning Armis to follow.

Armis looked down at Ruby, who looked saddened that they would be parting ways so soon after being reunited. He patted her head with one of his hands, and smiled a rare smile at her.

"I'm not going anywhere far Red Reaper. Go see your team. I'll meet you to see the next Vytal match." He assured her.

"Ok!" Ruby nodded seemingly brightening up immediately, a feat that never failed to impress Armis. "Oooo! And I can show you what popcorn is as well!"

"Pop, corn?" Armis frowned.

Ruby only giggled. "You'll see."

Patient One got into the elevator and watched as one of Magos' tendrils held the open button.

"So what do you want me to do?" She asked, completely ignorant to the entire situation.

"Wear this, put up the hood." Magos told her, pulling out a second set of red mechanicus robes with white cog trimmings and throwing it over her head. "I need you to keep your head down and not say a word. I will do the talking."

By the time she had struggled to pull the heavy robe off her, Magos had pulled over his own hood and reattached his respirator. In all honesty Patient One thought he looked pretty cool. In a scary steampunk kinda way.

Armis only now boarded the elevator and glanced down at the now silent and hooded Patient One.

"Who is she?"

"None of your business."

* * *

The elevator doors opened just in time for them to see Winter Schnee storming towards them. She paused only to allow them to exit the elevator and send hateful glare at Magos, before barging past him, knocking his shoulder aside with a burst of aura.

Magos didn't react outwardly, but after feeling his augmetic arm bend out of shape a few millimetres and several strands of red fibre snap, had already concocted several revenge plots to get back at Winter for disrespecting one of the Omnissiah's servant.

Glynda, Qrow and the head masters noticed them as they walked in, noting the one extra occupant in concealing red robes.

"Armis, while you and Magos were invited by Ozpin that doesn't mean you can attempt to sneak Miss Rose into this meeting." Glynda sighed.

"I am not-" A very-much-not Ruby Rose voice began to say.

"I can assure you!" Magos quickly interrupting his companion, a mechatendril discreetly poking the woman painfully in the side. "That my assistant can be trusted to maintain absolute secrecy. She was handpicked by myself to aid any of my, and now your, undertakings."

For some reason this didn't reassure them, but seeing Ozpin sigh and nod his acceptance of the situation at least placated them for now.

"As you were saying." Ozpin gestured to the drunkard huntsman.

"Your little infiltrator isn't just another pawn." Qrow told spoke to those gathered in the clock tower, pausing only to again unscrew the cap on his flask. "Their the ones responsible for Autumn's condition."

"What?" Glynda.

"Who is Autumn?" Magos asked Armis, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"One of the four psyker maidens." He replied, much to Ironwood's chagrin.

"Ah yes the one they currently have strapped to a Aura transfer machine in the Vaults."

"How do you-"

"You really should upgrade your security General. The Machine Spirits in your machinery are young babes, malnourished and uncared for."

"Seeing as we have some not-so newcomers among us, I may as well say this now." Qrow continued, taking a swig of what they could only assume was strong alcohol. "Despite what the world things we aren't just teachers or general's, or headmasters. The people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies, we're the ones keeping people safe from the evils no one even knows about." Qrow walked over towards Ironwood the tension between them obvious. "It's why we meet behind closed doors, why we work in the shadows, so you tell me James. When you brought your army to Vale did you think you were being discreet? Or did you just not give a damn?!"

Another tense pause as Ironwood met Qrow's stare and pulled out his scroll.

"Discreet wasn't working."

The moment the scroll touched Ozpin's desk, a hologram appeared in the middle of the room. Magos and Armis had to step back as a Atlas airship was bisected by their heads.

"I'm here because this..." He gestured to the hologram and his miniature army. "Was necessary."

"You're here because Ozpin wanted you here!" Qrow retorted. "He made you a part of this inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us."

"And I am grateful."

"Oh, well, you've got a real funny way of showing it."

"The people of Vale needed someone to protect them." He proclaimed, taking a step forward. "Some who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe. And our enemies will feel our strength!"

Qrow began laughing but before he could speak again Armis walked up to the hologram, noting the disproportionate size of Vale compared to the Atlas Airships.

"How many airships do these models represent?"

Everyone looked at the cloaked man, confused.

"This hologram shows four large airships with four escorts each. How many airships does each hologram represent in the fleet? Is it ten? Or one hundred?"

"They represent what you can see here." Ironwood replied, his eyebrows knitting.

Armis looked back at the hologram and then back at Ironwood with a disbelieving frown on his face.

"Four ships? That's all?"

"That is all." The general repeated, his annoyance rising.

Armis suddenly burst out into laughter. If anyone paid close enough attention to Magos, like Patient One did, they would hear a faint wheezing sound coming from his respirator.

"Are you serious!? Your fleet is four ships?!"

"With escorts and army support!" Ironwood shouted back at him, over Armis' dying laughter.

"That's not a fleet! You think the things out there are scared of your ships? Your pathetic AI army? How ignorant are you?!"

"I-"

Qrow took this opportunity to impromptu team up with Armis.

"I've been out there and I've seen the things she's made, and let me tell you. They are fear."

"And fear will bring the Grimm." Ozpin stood up from his chair and joined the conversation. "A guardian is a symbol of comfort. But an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air now. A question in the back of everyone's mind." He lifted his hand to point to the hologram. "If this is the size of our defences, what are we expecting to fight?"

Ironwood looked to each of the teachers and huntsmen, feeling his plans and intentions fall apart around him. Magos however believed it necessary to truly shatter any illusion of success the general had.

"You people are too fascinated with peace. The people of Vale have grown soft off it, despite the enemy being just beyond the walls, despite being just a step away from war. Your army would have perhaps had the desired effect if the public were prepared to fight with you, if they knew the stakes. As of now they care too much about themselves, their livelihoods, their possessions. They do not know what they face, so they cannot unite against a common enemy."

"Who are you to say; 'you people'?" Ironwood turned about to face the Techpriest, and then glanced over his shoulder to Ozpin. "Who are they?"

"Why are they here?" Qrow questioned both Glynda and Ozpin. "You've never let anyone join the circle this quickly, especially if they aren't huntsmen or headmasters."

Glynda seemed ashamed and embarrassed, avoiding his gaze, but Ozpin addressed Ironwood and Qrow.

"Magos and Armis are from the Imperium."

"The Imperium? I've never heard of anything called that. Not a kingdom nor an organisation, not even in history." Ironwood wondered aloud.

"That's because the Imperium isn't from Remnant. The Imperium is from another world."

Ironwood raised an eyebrow at that, while Qrow chuckled. Their expressions soon turned to shock when they saw that Ozpin wasn't joking. Patient One looked up at Magos and was about to speak, but another tendril jabbed her and she remained silent.

"Wait seriously?" Qrow looked over to Magos. "Seriously?"

"I have been told that I am rarely, not serious." The Techpriest quipped.

"Ozpin don't make a fool out of me." Ironwood scowled at him. "We both know that once dust is taken out of orbit it loses power. How could they possibly get here from another world to here."

"Rest assured I am not." Ozpin explained. "The Imperium of Man, to give it's full title, is a galaxy spanning empire, comprised of hundreds, perhaps thousands of worlds. They use dimensional distortion technology to navigate a parallel dimension known to them as the immaterium. And before you doubt me again James, do you think I would bring this up if it were not completely true?"

Ironwood stuttered and grasped for words.

"So how many ships does your Imperium have in a fleet?" Qrow asked. "What armies does it have? How many soldiers?"

Ironwood himself was curious to the Imperium's strength. If they were real then perhaps they could institute a alliance, gain their aid in fighting the Grimm.

"While each battlefleet's size varies depending on sector threat levels, the average main battlefleets consist of at least fifty ships."

"Including escort ships?" The general asked.

"No, as well as escort ships." Magos looked at Qrow due to the huntsman's next questions. "I cannot tell you how many guardsmen serve in the Astra Militarum."

"Bah!" Ironwood grumbled.

"Why not?" The drunkard asked, a smirk on his face. "Afraid of spilling your own military secrets?"

"You misunderstand. I cannot tell you how many, because some numbers are so high and fluctuate so much, that not even I can calculate them."

"What?!" Both Ironwood and Qrow exclaimed.

"If it placates you, the average Lunar class cruiser in a battlefleet is five kilometres in length, weighing in at twenty eight megatonnes. It's crew capacity at maximum is around one hundred thousand voidsmen."

Even Ozpin's jaw nearly hit the floor at that point. While he had gleaned general information from Armis, the sheer scale of the Imperium terrified him. All those assembled except Armis were in shock. The absolute vastness of space was suddenly imposed upon them and they had never felt so small, like just a tiny speck among untold billions of others.

"How..." Ironwood tried to say. "If the Imperium came here... How long would it take for them to wipe out the Grimm?"

Magos' eyes lit up with blue lines of calculations and Armis wondered himself.

"If you didn't mind all the forests, mountains, deserts and swamps being destroyed..." Armis started.

"One year. Approximately." Magos suddenly stated. "Assuming an ideal force was allocated to this planet, and orbital superiority is certain. If a more thorough operation was to be carried out to save this planet's surface resources then perhaps five."

"When can the Imperium get here then! We could end this war now!" Qrow cried out.

"Unfortunately they cannot. They do not know we are here and they are... Busy." Magos said with some reluctance.

"What do you mean? How did you get here then?"

Armis and Magos looked at each other and then back at the assembled group.

"The warp." They both said simultaneously.

"And I'm just supposed to accept that?"

"Yes."

"Well alright then."

"When you say 'busy' what do you mean?" Glynda frowned in confusion.

Magos and Armis once again looked reluctant to say.

"If you could wipe out the Grimm so quickly..." Ironwood's face lit up in realisation as he saw the two imperials expressions. He knew the look of loss and defeat.

"If the size of their army is so huge, then..." Qrow suddenly saw what Ozpin had said in a different light. "What does the Imperium face?"

"He means that despite their armies, despite their fleets, their power and their skill, just like us, the Imperium is losing." Ozpin said.

Silence reigned once again as a morbid atmosphere threatened to choke all those in the clock tower.

"So then..." Ironwood sighed. "What do you suggest we do?"

Ironwood addressed not only Ozpin, but everyone in the room. Anyone in the room.

"I suggest we find our guardian."

* * *

Armis, Magos, Patient One and the rest of the huntsmen and woman, all left the clock tower in silence. They all had a lot to think about. Magos signalled to Armis he would be in the sanctuary, the new woman accompanying him. It seemed that saving her had been a good decision if she was of use to Magos. He wasn't quite sure what the Techpriest wanted her for, but he hoped that if it was for what Armis though it was for, that Magos at least first got consent. He didn't think anyone on Remnant liked it when someone inserted something inside them and messed up their insides. Armis was of course talking about cybernetics.

He himself was began heading towards the Vytal tournament. He had a promise to keep after all.

* * *

"Watch out!"

"She's breaking free!"

"Don't let her escape!"

The sound of rending metal echoed through the Atlas transport ship as it traveled north back to base. If anyone checked the shipping manifest it would simply say provisions. But that was of course a cover. Atlas had to be careful after all. It's enemies were many and not just the Grimm. Organisations both criminal and legal wanted just a peek at Atlas' military secrets and technologies. One of which was currently ripping out of it's restraints and tearing a hole in the transport ship.

Wind howled as the boarding ramp finally gave in and collapsed outwards. The human occupants had to drop to the floor and grab hold of something, but their charge didn't seem to care. It jumped straight through the hole into the empty sky, plummeting fast. It had a mission. It needed to go back, prove herself.

'It doesn't matter if people know about her, because people were understanding. Like... Her. Not like him. The mean one. The one that tore them apart, took her friend away from her. She needed to get back. Back to Vale, back to the Vytal festival. She needed to find her. Find her friend.'

The wind continued to howl as the ground suddenly approached. It was sure that it could withstand this impact. Definitely. Hundred percent. Something clicked inside her and data flowed to her cortex. Ok, maybe more like eighty percent. But that didn't matter, it would succeed.

'She needed to find Ruby.'

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Your doubles tournament lineup!"

The crowd roared in exhilaration, waving their arms and shouting as they saw the combatants enter the arena. All the Beacon teams were there and cheering, seemingly all happy again despite recent events. Armis couldn't reciprocate. He felt... Empty. Nothing seemed right to him anymore. Armis wondered if he needed to be more Remnant-like to enjoy this display, but wasn't sure on the rules. He looked over to his right, seeing Ruby and her team all standing up and shouting. He tapped on Ruby's shoulder.

"Would you like me to cheer as well? I'm not sure if I'm allowed." He asked her when he had gotten her attention.

"Of course! Why wouldn't you be?" She frowned, but continued to cheer.

Armis raised his two arms, all bundled up and taut, into the air just as she was doing.

"YEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!" He roared, deafening the team, and several other audience members.

There was a little box of silence around him for a while before they all started cheering even louder, laughing as they did so.

"Whoa..." Blake said, staring at him.

"That's quite a set of lungs." Weiss added.

"YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Came an answering roar from the other side of the arena.

Armis looked to see that it didn't matter what he did, Nora was always going to be challenging it. He wondered if this was a Remnant tradition at festivals, be the one to cheer the loudest. He stood up and took in a deep breath ready to return to cheering. Everyone who noticed around him braced themselves, but luckily Ruby grabbed him by the cloak and pulled him back into his chair.

"You don't need to shout that much!" Ruby laughed. "Anyway here. Promise is a promise."

Armis looked down at his lap as a plastic bucket filled with white mushroom-looking things was given to him. He looked at Ruby.

"Eat some while your watching the fight." She said.

Armis shrugged and picked one up as he watched the doubles begin. Several other people around him seemed to be enjoying the taste of handfuls of them. His teeth crunched down on the strange food.

It was like ash in his mouth.

* * *

The fight was not what Armis was expecting. He was expecting some sort of duelling arena, but was surprised when the stage split into four ecosystems, grassland, forest, ruin and geyser field. He also wasn't expecting to see the green haired savlar girl and the legless grey haired boy. He was further taken aback to find out that they were from haven. When he fought the huntsman and woman in that abhuman warehouse, the Vytal festival was quite a while away from arriving in Vale. Why would the Haven team be in Vale so soon? Were they scouting opposition and just happened to bump into him? The match itself didn't seem fair. They put two fast huntsmen against two slow ones. While the assault cannon was a extremely effective weapon, it was designed for long ranged combat, medium range at a stretch. While the giants strange curved greatsword was large and cumbersome. Armis already smelt something fishy. His gut told him that the randomisation process wasn't so random at all.

The fight went how he thought it would. Well, in general terms. He hadn't expected Coco's assault cannon to come out of a purse. He almost threw Ruby out of her seat as bullets pattered off the barrier between the audience and the combatants. The extreme example of shifting technology got Armis imagining what the Officio Assassinorum would do to get their hands on such technology. Image a dagger hidden as a pen, springing out for the kill and then disappearing back into a unassuming writing tool just as fast. Not that Imperial assassins couldn't kill someone with a pen, but the point still stood. He himself was thinking of browsing some of the weaponry in Vale if he got the chance. He hated lugging his plasma gun around as it was heavy and restricted his movements, but he knew it was necessary to bring extra firepower on certain missions. But with this technology, anything was possible.

His and the audience's vision was obscured when Coco was dragged into the forest, but the crowd seemed content to watch Mercury beat on the giant Yatsuhashi. He was relentless and Armis assumed that he must have been training a lot since their last encounter as he hadn't been this good before. But out of nowhere, just before Yatsuhashi was knocked out, Armis felt something change. Without Armis' knowing Ruby too shivered slightly, like Armis, also feeling as the air seemed to twist and take on a aura of wrongness. He looked towards the forest, his psyniscience detecting that this was the source of the disturbance, and it was psychic in nature. But the feeling of wrongness disappeared just as suddenly, leaving Armis confused.

The battle ended right after that, with Coco flying out of the forest to land next to her teammate. Mercury had barely taken any aura damage, while Emerald had taken none at all. It was as close to a flawless victory as you can get. And that got Armis suspicious. Everything about this fight was wrong. First the huntsman and woman from before, then the match up and now this burst of psychic energy. Something was going on and it angered him that he had no idea what it was.

Armis folded his arms and lay back in his seat as the rest of the audience lamented over Coco and Yatsuhashi's loss. He glanced behind him as he felt air displace. A girl in haven attire and black hair was getting up and heading somewhere.

'Isn't that the Haven team's leader? What is she doing leaving after a victory like that?'

Armis grumbled as he gave up on this mystery, for now at least. He would have to wait for something else to happen. He was going find out what was going on, and then neutralise it if it was a threat. It's as they say. The patient hunter, gets the prey.

* * *

 ** _The secret Brotherhood of the Four Maidens have assembled, with the addition of Armis, Magos and the shanghaied Patient One. Magos has boldly cut his ties to Atlas, using his classifies knowledge as leverage over both Ozpin and Ironwood. Armis and Ruby now watch the Vytal Festival Tournament, but something seems wrong. Armis can feel it in their air and in his gut. Can he figure it out in time? However, as those of the Brotherhood realise the full extent of the problem, morale is running low. Even if they do the impossible, even if they defeat every last one of the Grimm, the fight will never be over. It will continue, just as it has for millennia, into the void and the terrible darkness that it hides._**

 ** _Reviews and criticisms are welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	18. Chapter 18

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: The Brotherhood of the Four Maidens has met, but the bigger picture has been revealed. The struggle never ends, with every victory, another battle. While the huntsmen and women decide what is needed next, Magos has now reunited with his personal project, Patient One. And Armis has seen too many suspicious goings on in the Vytal Tournament. He has made it his mission to discover what.**_

 _ **goddragonking: Thanks, Ill try my best! Hope you weren't waiting too long!**_

 _ **potato man the semi omnipotent: Yeah they are kinda a combo of tyranids and daemons, but without the true strengths of either.**_

 _ **RaptorusMaximus: Glad you like it! When you say bad do you mean 'good' bad or 'bad' bad?**_

 _ **Ulitmax999: Aye, alot of fics show how the Imperium is overpowered, and it completely is. However so is EVERYTHING else in their universe. No matter how powerful the Imperium gets, there is just too many threats to ever deal with.**_

 _ **COShepard: Theres so many Imperial worlds, that the saying could just as easily be said by humans without influence of the Tau. But perhaps...**_

 _ **EmperorKingPerby: Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the review.**_

 _ **Nemris: Character development successful! But Magos is a complex character, you can never tell his motivation. Is he only working for his own gains, or is he striving to protect his comrades?**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I own neither RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

The matches from then on became a stake out to Armis. Anything that seemed out of place he examined. Team CRDL's victory against the substituted Atlas team, the Abominable Intelligence and its handler being shipped back to Atlas, Team SSSN's doubles bout as well as Team RWBY's fight against another Atlas team. He watched and he analysed. Looking for even the slightest indicator of tampering. The focus and thought must have shown on his face because Ruby had asked him several times if he was alright, to which he replied that he was. She asked him many times but he always replied the same way. But he was lying. He was not alright.

Something was wrong. It was an itching in the back of head that bugged him, screaming silently. He thought that sitting next to Ruby would have made him feel... Something. Like before when they hugged he thought he had felt something. He felt relief that she was no longer under that AI's control. But nothing else. No joy from her return or that things were getting back to normal. No happiness that she was safe and in his arms. The first thought that had entered his head when Magos confirmed she was no longer brainwashed had left a bitter taste in his mouth.

'I no longer have to kill you.'

It terrified him that he would so casually think of such a thing, but every time he looked at her, at his Red Reaper, his first thoughts were always that she was a valuable, but still expendable ally.

He did that to everyone now. Anyone he now saw was viewed with suspicion. Were they a threat or could they be an ally? How would they be eliminated if they turned against me, or how could they be manipulated to serve my goals? He would think of these things without remorse or hesitation, only to mentally slap himself a few seconds later. He knew what he was doing was exactly what the Inquisitor did. He hated it. Hated it so much but he couldn't stop himself. He didn't even know if he was Ruby's protector, ensuring her safety as she was his respected companion and friend, or if he was her warden, making sure she wouldn't fall to brainwashing again and turn on him. He wondered if this was how a kind commissar felt. Knowing that it was his job to execute his brothers in arms if doing so would aid the cause.

When he wasn't watching the tournament or following Ruby around, Armis was in his room, writing into the night. About his findings, about Remnant, about Beacon and it's students. He had already filled his personal notebook with scrawls of information. Paper provided to him by Glynda and other staff members had been filled too and stuck around the room. He no longer allowed anyone to go into his room for fear of seeing what very much appeared to be mad ravings. He always kept the door locked, even installing a silent alarm linked to Magos' sanctuary as an additional precaution. He had written in Remnant's version of Low Gothic, but no one would understand _why_ he wrote what he had, and they would only hate him more for it. He himself didn't even know why he was writing.

Ruby had noticed Armis' behaviour. Unlike the rest of her Team she could see something was hurting Him. And unlike Armis, she knew what was causing it. She could see his hands twitching and clenching seemingly at random, a scowl crossing his face only to disappear almost instantaneously, one of his hands unconsciously scratching at that little spot just behind his ear. Where the implants Magos had tampered with were doing their dastardly work. All she could do was try to comfort him as much as possible. Keep him going until the end of the Vytal Festival and then everything would be better. Magos would keep his promise... She hoped.

* * *

The sun was setting on Beacon Academy, the building casting long shadows. Despite the air of unease surrounding Vale, Beacon and its students seemed blissfully unaware of this tension and as night drew in, many began to lie down to quiet sleep, especially those teams who had a member participating in the Vytal Festival Tournament singles. And so they slept. But several certain Beacon residences were not lucky enough to receive a full night's sleep.

The inside of Magos' so called sanctuary smelt... Weird. Not bad per say, it actually reminded Patient One of walking through some of Vales' weapon forges with her friend. Her old friend, in better days. The room seemed to have an organised chaos about it, with half finished Mechanicus implants, cybernetic limbs and other crazy inventions that she knew she had never seen or heard of before, but she still knew exactly what they were. Names even passed through her mind as she smelt the fumes permeating around the room. Mars, Landraider, Imperator, incense.

The man himself had removed his respirator and hood to take a good few breaths of the thick smog air, drinking it in with, perhaps the first sign of enjoyment Patient One had seen from him. Well, it was also the first time she had seen any sign of any emotion really. She took off her hood and looked at the Techpriest.

"Explain. Now." She folded her arms, trying to look stern.

Magos turned to her and his bionic eye flashed blue dangerously. His other real eye and bro twitched in the slightest frown.

"Please..." Patient One quickly added.

This at least seemed to placate the man, who nodded.

"What do you want explained?"

'So many things.' She thought, sighing. 'Too many things.'

'So start with the most pressing matter.' She heard Magos reply.

Her eyes widened in surprise and she took a step back. Magos' lips hadn't moved.

"Did you just... Read my thoughts?" Patient one exclaimed. 'I was sure that I hadn't said that out loud.'

'Of course you didn't. You spoke Techna-Lingua. Or at least a slower, more, shall we say... humanised version of it.'

"What?"

'Techna-Lingua?' Magos seemed to sigh and then returned to speaking normally. "It's a binary language used to communicate quickly between Techpriests and others of the machine. I gave it to you."

"Gave it to me? What do you mean?"

"Just like I gave you your cybernetic spine, so too did I grant you Cerebral Implants and a MIU. Rather well crafted ones at that, if I do say so myself."

Patient One felt her back itching at its mention as well as the scarring on her head.

"You... did this? For me?" Patient One even felt a small tear build in her eye. "Why?"

"I needed an assistant. And I hate wasted potential." Magos simply stated, but went on to explain further. "I will not lie, the only reason I approached you was simple curiously as to why you had shaved your hair. I care not about your appearance, your illness or any other weakness you may possess, mental or physical. That can be fixed. Nor do I share the shaming mentality of Vale due to your hatreds for the Faunus and the White Fang. In fact, that could be said to be an advantage if used correctly."

"So... What do you want me to do?" She wondered aloud.

Her emotional outburst was firmly flattened by the Techpriests cold logic. But inside, she had never been so happy. This man didn't care. Not about her, or her illness, or her personality. Some might find that counter productive to a good relationship, but Patient One took it for what she saw it to be. He was honest, unlike everyone else who halfheartedly gave sympathies for her condition but nothing else. Yet Magos was still willing to help her, even if it was ultimately for his own gain. That was something she understood, something she could work with. If he viewed her as wasted potential, but gave her the tools to prove herself, then by Oum she would prove herself! And pay him back one hundred fold!

"As I said before, you shall be my assistant in everything I do. If you do not know how to do it, ask and then I shall teach it to you. After a certain period of time, if I deem you worthy, I shall take you on as a apprentice. Prove yourself then, and I will reveal to you the real secrets of the Machine Spirit!" Magos exclaimed, hands and mechatendrils rising up as the sound of his voice increased.

Patient One put up her hand. The Techpriest seemed to falter in his enthusiasm, shoulders slumping.

"Yes?" He tilted his head and asked. "Please refrain from doing that in the future. Just ask."

"What is the Machine Spirit?"

Magos sighed.

"Ah yes you are not one of the cult. You would not have been raised the same as those on Sacred Mars..."

"Oh, I know about the priesthood of Mars and the Mechanicus... Somehow. About their quest for lost knowledge and some of the general commandments they impose over their members. But I just can't understand Machine Spirits."

Magos nodded and after a few seconds of thought, suddenly a loud, high pitched whining started to echo around the room. Magos looked up and a idea seemed to flash behind his artificial eyes. He began walking over to what seemed like a high tech radio with a single twisting knob to change the frequencies.

"Then perhaps a demonstration is in order. As well as a warning." Magos took out a single large bundle of cables connected together by two metal ends with piercing sharp wiring. "It's about Armis. The cloaked man who was with us in the clock tower."

"The drunkard?"

"No, the extremely cloaked man." Magos corrected, while adjusting the machine's functions. "He is also extremely dangerous, as well as a psyker. I believe you should know how powerfully unpredictable they can be."

She did. And it terrified her. People, driven by emotion, who could manipulate reality on a whim. People who could go mad at the drop of a hat and be possessed by even worse daemons. Not sure why the Imperium didn't spell demon like everyone else though.

"At the moment, Armis' experiencing something known as psychic build up. It is causing his mind to turn against him, making him do things that he doesn't want to do." Magos explained solemnly. "Before recent events, Remnant, Beacon, the Vytal Tournament, this didn't happen, as he was an emotional blank, able to use his powers without additional danger. However since coming to Beacon his emotions have been growing. He doesn't know how to deal with it."

Patient One could see parallels with herself in Armis and empathised with him. She never knew how hateful and spiteful she could become after traumatic events, like when she lost her legs. And she just kept pushing people away until, when she had finally gotten a hold of herself, they were all gone.

"I had to try and dampen his emotions using emotive selectors implanted into his head. But his emotions, and in turn, his psychic power just keep building. And so this is my solution." He finished, moving Patient One over to the device.

"A radio?" She questioned, but cried out as Magos gripped her head with both hands.

"Please hold still. This will only hurt for but a moment." He told her as two mechatendrils approached her, one holding the bundle of wires.

"What are you- Aaaaah!" She screamed as she felt a piece of her head literally being peeled from her, exactly where the scarring had been.

A second later and she felt something 'connect' with her head, and a surreal wave of... Something she couldn't describe flowed over her. Magos had unscrewed the part of her head marked by the scar circle, to reveal a mechanical slot in the side of her head.  
The cables he had once held were now imbedded in her head.

'What... What is that?' She stuttered in binary, relaxing completely as her body shut down into a trance. It made her think that this was what a baby must feel like during a peaceful sleep."

'That is the power of the machine spirit. This one is quite young so you are in no danger of being overwhelmed. Best train your will now otherwise, if you interface with a more powerful machine spirit, it will consume you." Magos told her through Techna-Lingua. 'Now, resist. That relaxing feeling, resist it."

Patient One shook herself mentally and grabbed hold of her senses again. The relaxing feeling was still there, but it was no longer affecting her thought process.

'Now what?'

'Ask it, nicely, to increase its power by fifty percent. Always try to use honorifics, such as honourable or sacred. But remember to keep a air of authority about you. The relationship between man and machine is mutual, but you must never give in if the machine pushes back, just as you must never push too far. A balance must be kept.'

'Errrrm...' Patient One started badly. 'Honourable machine spirit? Please increase your sacred power by fifty percent?'

She could have sworn it giggled in reply and it was not a playful giggle. It was sadistic and cruel, delighting in the order to be unleashed. As Patient One's consciousness went back to normal, she suddenly began hearing the sound of screaming coming from above them. There was a crash and shouting, the ceiling seemed to rumble, dust particles raining down upon them.

"Magos? What's above us?" She asked, cringing as the sounds of agony grated against her ears and echoed through her mind.

A second alarm, blaring loudly on and off in a series sounded from a second device, mingling with the noises of anguish coming from above them.

"Armis' room. Those noises were Armis. And that second alarm is the silent alarm to his room being tripped." Magos tapped the device Patient One had been hooked up to. "This machine's sole job is to remotely control Armis' emotions and therefore his psychic output. It relieves the psychic build up by increasing Armis' emotions to unsustainable levels, unleashing it all at once, for barely a second. However the resulting outburst is extremely painful, so you'll have to forgive the machine spirit for enjoying it. Tormenting Armis is all it has ever known."

* * *

Ruby and her team immediately jumped out of their collective skins as a unholy screaming cut through the air.

"What was that?" Weiss whispered, clutching her covers in fright. She had to repeat herself with less of a whisper because the continued screams drowned her voice out.

The girls all jumped out of their beds, aura shimmering into existence protectively, and Blake walked over to the wall left of the door, legs unsteady.

"It's coming from next door!" She shouted.

Ruby's mind quickly clicked, recognising the subtle hints of familiarity in the pained echoes that bounced around their room.

"Armis!" She cried, becoming a cloud of petals as she shot out the room.

Her team swiftly followed her, through the door and out into the corridor. Yang almost tripped on a pile of rose petals there were so many of them, Ruby had darted out so fast.

"Armis! Armis what's wrong? Let me in!"

Ruby was struggling with the door, pushing and tugging at it, the wood not budging despite her aura enhanced strength. All that she could hear in reply was pained roaring.

"Help me!" She begged her friends and Weiss and Blake quickly obliged.

All the while the screaming continued, the sounds of crashing and breaking objects joining the crescendo. As one the three girls all grabbed the doorknob and pulled with all their might. For two strained seconds the door seemed to give way. But with a snap the metal handle came off, the backwards momentum sending them tumbling into the wall, making a muddled indent of three bodies in the plaster.

"I've had enough of this!" Yang shouted. "Armis, I'm coming in!"

Yang put her foot on the far wall, and all her team members put a hand on her back. Her and their auras charged up, mingling and combining.

"Ready?" Weiss asked.

"Ready!" Yang nodded, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.

"Then go!" Ruby shouted, pushing with Weiss and Blake as one.

Yang rocketed forward, crashing shoulder first with the door, for a second Yang simply stopped, time seeming to freeze. She began to think that this door was made of something other than wood. But with dozens of snaps, the door burst into fragments and the girls charged after Yang into Armis' room. Inside on the bed was Armis, shouting and roaring, striking at invisible monsters that haunted him, his eyes still closed. But he did not look well.

His face was pale and gaunt, face appearing abnormally thin and sunken. He was in his straight jacket, just as Ruby had seen before when he had had his arms restricted and confined to the jacket. But now his arms were all free, punching out of the white leather and flailing madly in a mass of uncontrollable limbs. Bloodied fingernails clawing grooves in the walls, smearing red across his jacket and gouging bloody trenches into his shaven head. The only thing that kept him from falling out of his bed was the thick chain attached to his back, still linking him and the wall together. Crimson was running down his nose and out the corner of his mouth.

Yang got a quick look around the room as well, and her jaw fell open. Each wall was plastered with paper. Spidery writing, pages of it were all over the walls, sketching of Beacon, of Vale. Of them! And not portraits or artwork. But human diagrams, their arms and legs outstretched. It listed everything from height and arm stretch to hair length and density. But that wasn't all. Monsters too adorned the ceiling, Grimm that she could recognise and other beings she could not. Green monsters with tusks and feral markings, furred men that looked like twisted Faunus, red spiked robots wielding chainsaw axes. And that was only what she could glance at.

Ruby ran past her sister and tried to reach for him, hold him, hug him, comfort him, anything. But the moment she touched him, his head instantly snapped around and locked onto her, eyes still unopened.

"No one. Touches me!" Armis snarled in anger. "No One!"

Two of his hands suddenly shot out towards Ruby and throttled the girl. Ruby gurgled and hit against her unexpected assailant, trying to lessen his hold on her. Yang and her team were quickly torn from their own thoughts and had to quickly jump in, wrenching his hands off her, the four aura powered huntswomen overpowering him.

"Stop this at once!" Blake shouted at him.

"How dare you!" Weiss drew back a hand to try and slap Armis awake.

"You hurt my sister you bastard!" Yang growled, raising her fist to punch Armis.

"N-No!" Ruby spluttered, holding Yang and Weiss back. "He's just having a night terror, he's sleep walking!"

"Then what do we do?"

"Just... Just hold him down! Grab his arms."

"Errr Ruby! He has more arms than us!" Blake warned.

"I know, I know! Just try ok! We need to stop him from hurting himself."

They quickly set about their impossible task, grabbing at Armis' hands and limbs trying to keep him in place.

"Damn you Inquisitor! Damn your acolytes, your Techpriests and your abhumans! Damn you all!" Armis continued to cry out, babbling what three of team RWBY thought was insanity.

Ruby tried to focus on keeping his sharp augmetic away from them with her own rather than listen, while her team did their best elsewhere. However, it was easier said than done. Armis was strong, even against Aura, and he was fast, always moving and struggling. Ruby was heartbroken as she saw his face, turning from that of anger to one of sheer terror.

"No! Please! No!" Armis cried in fear all the hatred in his voice gone now. "Just kill me!"

Ruby froze as those faithful reoccurring words reverberated around her mind. Armis seemed to sense her hesitation, stopping struggling for a moment, all of his blind attention on her.

"Please!" Armis took her augmetic in his hand and placed it over his heart. "Please! Kill me!"

"What is he hell is he saying?" Yang exclaimed.

"I don't know!" Ruby turned her head slightly to answer back. "I just... I just-"

Armis' throat emitted another growl, this time one of desperate frustration.

"Kill me!" He shouted.

His body sprung back into action again, grabbing and restraining Yang, Weiss and Blake suddenly, in chokeholds and armlocks, three hands gripping each of them. His augmetic held Ruby's to his heart and pressed it harder against his chest. His final hand once again found its way to her throat.

"Kill me! Or I'll kill you!"

Ruby's vision started to blur as her team once again tried to struggle to save her, but she didn't think they would make it in time.

"Armis!" Ruby coughed out the words through her constricting throat. "It's me, Ruby! Stop please, you're hurting me!"

The pressure immediately let up and she breathed deeply in relief, oxygen once again flowing to her lungs. As her vision returned, she could feel a warm hand brush against her cheek. Armis' eyes were open once again, and he was no longer shouting. There was no fear, or anger anymore, yet he still kept the team rooted in one place.

"I hurt you?" Came his voice in a whisper. "I hurt you, Red Reaper?"

Ruby saw his eyes, unfocused and trancelike staring up at her. Tears poured down his face, mingling with the blood from his nose and mouth.

"How could I? I promised, but how could I?" He continued. "You're the only one who didn't push me away, but why is it that... That I can't tell you?"

"What Armis? It's ok I forgive you, just relax. I'm here now." Ruby tried to imitate the voice of her almost forgotten mother, relying on a baby's memories that were hazy and inconsistent.

"It's unforgivable. I've broken so many promises."

Armis' head fell onto his chest in shame. Ruby was once again about to speak but she suddenly felt Armis' whole body tense up. His head slowly looked up at her, not a single ounce of emotion prevalent.

"Your a valuable, but expendable, ally."

Out of nowhere, Armis' hand slapped himself, and frustration returned to his face.

"No! She is not a statistic, she is Ruby Rose. She and her team are people!"

The room suddenly seemed to darken that much more, and his voice echoed with eldritch power as he raved on and ranted with himself, Armis' personality shifting as quickly as a coin toss. His words were almost too fast to hear, and while he was speaking, it seemed another person with the same voice was contradicting.

"She is my Red Reaper. Her friends are my friends. Her allies, my allies."

"But all are pawns, just like me. All but a number, a cog in the great game."

"She'll never let me down, she never has. I'll protect her.

"She'll betray me, she already has! I'll end her!"

Armis' eyes went white, no pupils, no Iris, no nothing, just glazed over white. He looked at Ruby, his lips seemed to moving, but other sounds were made instead. It was not his voice but someone, something, else's.

"Those who push forward, face endless struggle. Eternally doomed, to lose friends to betrayal."

Armis' head turned to the struggling three, his words directed at Yang. His tone became cold with disappointment, and Ruby could feel the psychic energy radiating off him.

"But those who give up, are to be swallowed in depression. Wallowing in despair, in need of confession."

Weiss was the third his eyes laid upon, his voice becoming warmer.

"Those bound by duty, are at first to be commended. But when duty crushes duty, burnt bridges must be mended."

And lastly the room's temperature skyrocketed as Armis' fiery temper made itself know. Now he turned to Blake, instinctually animal fear making her shrink to this predator's fury.

"To the abhuman who runs, from all you hold dear. Your death shall be the worst, life ending in fear."

Just as it appeared, the aura of utter wrongness disappeared in a flash, as though someone had snapped their fingers and things were back to normal. Armis' eyes returned to their natural state and suddenly focused on the four huntswomen who were tangled in his arms. Surprise hit him first, then realisation that they were in his room. A glance around reminded him about the exact nature of secrets that his room bared across its walls. Then anger clouded his face once again. He immediately rolled to the right, throwing the unprepared girls off of him and into the middle of the room.

"Hey!" Weiss cried indignantly.

As they recovered and got to their feet, Armis had already unattached the chain holding him to the wall. It only briefly fazed him that he would need to get a newer, tougher straight jacket to this one.

"Get out." Armis said in a low voice.

"But Armis you just..!"

"Get out!" Armis roared and threw his arms forwards in concert, a roiling, invisible tornado of power coming crashing towards them.

It engulfed them and grabbed at them with invisible hands and despite their protests and cries, Team RWBY were sent twisting and tumbling out of the door. They landed in a hurting pile of bodies in the corridor. Except Ruby, who was left nearly placed, sitting atop of them all.

"Armis! Please let me help you!" She called into the room, jumping off her friends and trying to get back into the room.

But before she could, she felt psychic power being unleashed again and pieces of wood from the broken door flew from inside the room to fill up the doorway. They were joined by pieces of metal ripped from everywhere around the room all converging, moulding and melting into one another to reform into a reinforced door. Ruby hit against the now metal and wood fused doorway to no avail. It wouldn't budge an inch. She could tell somehow that Armis was still holding it closed with his psychic might.

She worried for him. She blamed herself for not acting sooner and now she had been pushed away. As she hit one last time against the door, she hoped against hope that Armis would be alright.

* * *

Back with Magos and Patient One they were discussing the finer details of what her job as an assistant would be. A few she understood, or at least she hoped she did. General cleaning, lifting and carrying, those she understood. But others, not so much. Loader of munitions, voluntary field tester/test subject of experimental equipment, stand in ambassador when representing the Mechanicus. Those were a bit more hazy for her. So she did as she was told and asked about them.

"I will have to explain at a later date." Magos told her. "For now I just need to confirm something with you."

Magos knelt down under a workbench and pulled out two large jars full of greenish translucent fluids. He put them down in front of her and she leant forward to examine them more closely.

Both were rather disturbing. One looked like part of a brain, the telltale wiggling lines of grey matter making that all too clear. However something was growing out of it, like a second brain but more warped and sick. The second jar held a long spinal column. But, closer to the lower columns, one of them was broken beyond repair, having been shattered by something. If she knew anything about human spine's, then she would hazard a guess that whoever had been the previous owner of this spine would have been paralysed from the hips down. That thought got the rest of her mind to click.

"Oh my Oum!" She shouted, reeling back in shock. "That's mine! And if that's mine...

She pointed to the brain jar.

"That was in my head!"

"Yes, but I'm not showing you these for you to state the obvious." Magos chided her. "I wanted to know if you wanted to keep them or not."

"What?" Patient One exclaimed in disgust. "Why the hell would I want to keep them!"

Magos' robes lifted up and down in a shrug.

"Some humans enjoy keeping trophies of things that almost killed them. Like hanging a predator's head on a wall. The tumour, obviously, nearly ended your life, but the bullet in your spine almost did as well. If it had missed your spine or your bones had been weaker, it is quite possible you could have died."

"This is a little different!"

Magos only tilted his head slightly, not understanding. Patient One sighed in frustration.

"Nevermind! But no, I do not want to keep them."

"Very well." Magos nodded and put the jars away again. "Ah yes, and another matter I am reminded of."

"What?"

"Who do you worship?"

Patient One opened her mouth, but paused for a second, realising this seemingly innocent question had much worse consequences depending on how she answered.

"The Machine... God?" She tried, wincing.

"Yes very good." Magos nodded his approval, while Patient One sighed in relief. "However I noticed you taking a being's name in vain. Oum."

"Yes? Should I stop doing that?"

"It's of no concern of mind, and you may continue doing so. However if anyone asks you who Oum is, especially if we run into another Imperial, say that Oum is the Emperor."

She nodded vigorously, memories not her own reminding her of what happened to those considered heretics. But then a sudden thought popped into her head. Not so much a thought as a piece of information. The Imperium regularly allowed different versions of the Imperial Creed to be used across their multitude of worlds, and that included different names for the Emperor.

"Magos?"

"Yes?"

"Would it perhaps be more useful to both maintain Imperial and Remnant relationships if we instead didn't use either the Emperor or Oum as a name to refer to the Master of Mankind?"

"I assume you have a idea in mind?"

"The Oumperor of Mankind."

"That is... rather ingenious actually. Perhaps you should have been born a missionary."

* * *

After yet another incident in his room, Armis made sure to avoid all contact with anyone, except Ozpin and Magos. Instead he focuses all his efforts on uncovering this foul play within the Vytal Festival. It kept his mind focused and avoided any unnecessary distracting thoughts. He had actually felt much better than he had before that night. The weight on his head was gone. He tried not to think about anything else. Now, standing in shadow of one of the stands, he was ready for whatever the unknown schemer was working behind the scenes.

It was in the first singles match in the tournament that a plot began to reveal itself to Armis. Once again the random participant generator span to reveal Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black as the first fighters. Nothing particularly strange about that. But Armis was watching the crowd. That same girl, the leader of Mercury Black's team, he remembered her name was Cinder, left her seat again. Neither Emerald or the other girl, Neo was anywhere nearby. Why would she not stay to watch her team member fight? Show the support that every other team was showing to their comrades. But Armis didn't follow her. He continued scanning the crowd, while still keeping an eye on the fight.

It started off innocent enough, the two beating on one another. However as the duel continued Armis continued to notice the opportunities that Mercury was missing. The first time could have been a honest mistake. But after the second and third time, it became clear to him. Mercury was throwing this fight. To everyone else, most of them cheering for Yang, nothing was awry. But with Armis' over-analyzing mind he could see the pattern. When Yang unleashed her semblance, it was clear that Mercury was taking those hits but once again Yang, blinded in rage, couldn't see the hidden side of her opponent. The match ended soon enough and Yang offered some words of consolation to the supposedly beaten huntsman.

Then the air shifted and changed, just as it had before. But this time Armis was ready for it and immediately worked to pinpoint the source. His mind separated from his body and his omniscient psychic eye wandered through the crowd rushing through them as they were each deemed irrelevant. It took only a few seconds for him to pinpoint Emerald, who in turn was focusing her mind on Yang. The savlar was waiting on the sidelines where the two participants were supposed to exit after the fight was concluded.

He saw tendril's of psychic energy twisting and turning, working there way into the blonde brawler's mind. It was abundantly clear, as Armis' real eyes saw Yang shotgun punch one of Mercury's legs, and his psychic eye felt the power exuding from Emerald, that Yang was being effected by an illusion. While Yang actually did shoot one of Mercury's legs, no one but Armis knew that the boy had bionics. Sure it may have damaged the machinery, but he was not as hurt as everyone believed him to be.

Low and behold, Emerald was the first at his side, rushing to him and crying out for help. Armis would give Mercury credit for accurately faking pain, but Emeralds acting was subpar at best. Luckily for her the atlas security had all their focus on the panicking and confused Yang, who was playing right into their hands. Mercury was put on a stretcher and along with Emerald was taken off the ring and probably to a hospital. The two medics were likely in on the plan as well, taking Mercury to a secluded location in which to lay low. But that's where Armis began to formulate a plan.

He needed more information and Emerald was going to give it to him. He began making his way towards the dormitories. Emerald knew that Mercury wasn't hurt, so she wouldn't stay with him very long and would likely return to her dormitories just like the rest of the students, ready for the next match. And that's where he would catch her. He planned to search her room, gather as much information as possible and then ambush her as she returned.

Armis subconsciously knew that he was going to be a particularly brutal interrogator this time around. At first he thought it was because he needed to blow off some steam. But his mind began to realise that he was angry at this girl. Yang was Ruby's sister and her sadness had passed onto Ruby. Armis was going to make her pay for that.

* * *

It didn't take long for him to get there. Everytime he had went up to the floating arena he had brought his Elysian pattern grav chute. He didn't trust the stability of this platform so he concluded he might need it. And he was right. The grav engines kicking in, he landed with a thud against one of the Academies rooftops, roof tiles shifting and cracking under his weight. From there, he had easily been able to pass undetected through Beacon, everyone either in the Vytal Festval Arena or too focused on a news screen to pay much attention. Opening the window to Emerald's room silently, he listened for any activity outside.

To his surprise he heard the rooms shower suite pouring from behind a wall and if he strained his hearing hard enough, the sound of humming. But he couldn't make out the voice.

'Was that Neo?' He thought, plans in his head changing and adapting.

New plan. He would search the room stealthily and if he found the necessary information, he would leave without a trace. But if he was unsuccessful, he would wait for the showers to stop and interrogate Neo. And then Emerald when she arrived.

And so he set about his task, looking under beds, in drawers, lightly tapping on the walls, searching for anything that would provide the information he desired. But nothing yielded anything. All the while the sound of flowing water and humming echoed quietly through the room. It had taken on a certain familiarity to it, the practiced tune Neo was humming. Armis began to recognise it, but it still danced on the tip of his tongue. It was catchy, infectious, like he had heard it a hundred other times before. Soon, as he continued his inquiry, he began mouthing the half forgotten words.

"By bolter shell and flamer burst,

By plasma burn and melta blast.

The mutant, the heretic, the traitor alike,

Shall be cleansed of their sin of existence."

Armis suddenly froze as he realised someone else began singing the words.

"So has it been for ten millennia,

So shall it be unto the end of time."

He whipped around to see who had been singing, and his eyes widened to what he saw. The shower was still been running and so drowned out some sound, but he had no idea how that giant of a woman could have snuck up on him. She stood there now, dripping water droplets falling from her naked body. Armis recognised her confident smiling face from the White Fang warehouse he had raided. Muscles that would make a Sister of Battle proud rippled across her body, proving that even without her colossal golden armour she was still a head taller than even him. A strange difference was her hair, now cut short just above her shoulder.

Armis was stunned by both her sudden appearance and by the realisation of the songs origin. One of the Inquisitor's acolyte battle sisters had sung it, the Fire Maiden had sung it. It was verses four through five from the Words of Devotion, chapter ten! The battle sister had drilled it into all of the Inquisitor's acolytes, even him, as reluctant she was to do so.

"How in the warp do you know that song?" Armis exclaimed.

Without a hint of shame or embarrassment on her face, Seraphim asked; "I could be asking you the same thing, little Metzger."

* * *

 ** _Armis and Seraphim meet once again, in perhaps... less than ideal circumstances. But they seem to have more in common than either of them realise. Magos is tending to Patient One, beginning the process of integrating her into the Priesthood of Mars, or at least his own version of the cult. Emerald and Mercury have executed their plan and Vale looks in horror at Yangs 'uncalled' for actions. But what could possibly come next? What can spark the powderkeg that is Vale, when a certain AI is still far, far away from the Vytal Tournament? Who will be fighting next?_**

 ** _Reviews and criticisms are welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	19. Chapter 19

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: Armis has been suffering due to the unforeseen perils of the warp and despite Magos' dubious aid and promises, he suffers still. Emerald and Mercury have successfully slandered Yang and in turn Beacon as a whole. But Armis had been watching the Tournament fights and as his suspicions prove true, he took matters into his own hands. But now he must deal with a familiar**_ ** _opponent in a familiar situation. Seraphim has stepped out of the showers singing a oh so familiar song._**

 _ **EmperorKingPerby: Oh I haven't even begun to stop upping things. I cant wait to get to the Battle of Beacon and then onto Volume 4.**_

 _ **potato man the semi omnipotent: Awww Sisters of Battle arn't that bad. And find out in thsi chapter. See If you can guess Seraphim's origin.**_

 _ **Nemris: Aye, its a mean new baby machine spirit. And we can only hope it doesn't. Don't place any bets... We can only pray that the Oumperor protects him.**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I own neither RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

"How do you know that song!?" Armis shouted at the naked woman, cloak already bristling with weapons.

Seraphim only smiled at him. A standoff ensued between the two opposites. One dark, crouched in readiness and armed to the teeth. The other light, standing tall and relaxed, hand on her hip, not a care in the world.

But in her eyes, Seraphim had never taken anything more seriously. Hidden behind body language and posturing, her muscles were just as tense as her opponents. She wasn't relaxed. Her muscles were simply spring locked into this position, ready to snap to attention at the slightest provocation. This hidden figure before her was Metzger, the one she had been itching to fight since she had first encountered him at the warehouse. When Cinder had brought her to Beacon she had a specific task in mind for her, and had promised her a fight with this Metzger as payment. But now her prize was in front of her. Seraphim's brain was immediately weighing the consequences. Should she stick with the plan? Or indulge herself now?

Seraphim sighed, shoulders relaxing.

"I picked it up from my teacher. A long time ago." She told him, a half truth. One that her opponent picked up on instantly.

Like with the click of a trigger, Metzger shot towards her like a bullet, two glowing blue blades cross cutting towards her throat. Seraphim tracked the movement and intercepted it. The blades stopped just a millimetre more than a finger's breadth away from her throat. Her finger, sheathed in aura, wedged in between the two blades, preventing them from continuing their course. They were face to face now, her eyes picking out small features on Metzger's face, despite the shadow cast across it by his hood.

"Liar!" He growled.

"My my Metzger! Is this how you treat all the skin clad ladies in your life? Not that I'm complaining." Seraphim's grin widened.

Her opponent only growled louder trying to push his blades further forward in an attempt to sever her finger and in turn, her head. Seraphim chucked. She knew she was getting under his skin. She began pushing back, using her height to her advantage.

"Oh so this is a repeating incident is it? How quaint."

Metzger took a step back, his swords opening like a pair of scissors. She swung her other fist at his gut, and low and behold four other hands intercepted the blow. It did served its purpose in pushing him back at least. Before he could attack again however, Seraphim's armour suddenly materialised on her body, sword and tower shield in her hands. The only sign she had even been in the shower was her darkened blonde, wet hair, slick to her neck.

"Perhaps if you told me how you came to know of this song, then I would be inclined to tell the truth."

Her opponent hesitated, weapons freezing for but a moment.

"A woman... A Sister in arms, long dead, sung it to me, taught it to me."

Seraphim's perfect smiling face was flawed for a moment as she saw his skin shiver for a moment. His words seemed genuine and they reminded her of the past. But she quashed that feeling and her satisfied smile covered up any other expression that muddled her fine features.

"A strong woman it would seem. You don't have many fond memories of her."

"Just one." He spoke through gritted teeth. "Now tell me where you heard that song."

"My mother." She answered without batting an eye, without a single hint of dishonesty.

Seraphim felt his eyes burning into her, trying to find the lie. The man in front of her was desperately searching for answers, but, it seemed that he didn't even know what to question. And she had no time for a guessing game.

She brought her shield up into a combat position and her sword rested atop it, it's point straight at her opponent's heart. Or where she guessed his opponent's heart was, under that shifting cloak. Metzger himself was readying his blades again, she could hear the crackle of electricity as those strange weapons of his powered up. He still seemed unsure however if he should attack or not.

"Decide. I would very much like to fight you now, and perhaps you feel the same." Seraphim smirked. "But I have things to do, our inevitable reunion to plan. I plan to prove my claims to that song. And I believe that you will have planning of your own to do too."

Her opponent acted confused for a moment, but it appeared that she would get her wish. Metzger was watching her, eyes playing across her armour, her shield, her sword, looking for any kind of weakness. She shivered in anticipation for the next fight. Would she win this bout? Would she be wounded? What was needed to prevail? These questions, she hadn't asked herself in so long, played across her mind. Seraphim took a pensive step forward, sword arm steady, and it seemed Metzger had finally decided upon his attack.

But all too soon, he suddenly stopped. She guessed that someone was communicating to him, by the was his hood turned slightly in response to noise, but she could see no scroll. He darted to the side, but Seraphim let him go, leaping on the balcony and scrambling onto the roof. Just before he was out of sight, she felt their gazes lock for just a moment.

"The names Seraphim." She smiled at Metzger, as he disappeared, leaving her in silence.

She sighed, the rush of adrenaline subsiding. She hadn't felt such a rush in ages! No one else excited her quite like Metzger. No one else had been able to even challenge her in combat, her strength too gargantuan, her aura unbeatable. From wandering huntsmen, to roving packs of Grimm it had all become so boring on Remnant. Until he had appeared.

She smiled in remembering their first meeting. His twists and turns, his feints and counters. The sheer killing intent surrounding him, and the absence of hesitation as he broke her arm.

Seraphim went back into the shower.

She couldn't wait for more.

* * *

"Armis respond." Came the mind numbing grate of static in his head. "Ozpin has... ordered you, shall we say, to return to the clock tower. Do you copy?"

Armis gritted his teeth as he ran across the rooftops of Beacon academy.

"I copied the first time, Magos. I was busy engaging... a possible threat."

"Has it been dealt with?"

"Negative. But it will have to wait."

'What the hell could Ozpin possibly want?' He thought to himself. 'Was it perhaps to discuss the Imperium? Or had new information about the Queen and her pawns been revealed?'

Armis knew that he had perhaps used excuses to give himself a reason to disengage. That woman was a immensely skilled and dangerously powerful huntswoman. It would not do for him to be fighting a prolonged battle against her on Beacon grounds, especially not in the Haven team's guest room that he had broken into. He was also now needed by the headmaster for what he could only assume was extremely important.

But mostly Armis was worried. The speed at which she had reacted, the strength of her aura, the confidence in her eyes. He was unsure he could beat her.

He grinned savagely. The challenge excited him.

* * *

Armis had deigned not to use the elevator this time. Definitely not because he wanted to avoid any contact with beacon students. Especially not with four students in particular. He just needed to see if he could actually do it. Climb the clocktower. It was rather difficult, even for one of his skill and ability, and it made it all the more curious to him how Ruby had scaled it, what felt like ages ago. But without much delay, he did make it and was now presented with an altogether different challenge. Getting into the room proper without breaking the glass pane surrounding it.

Armis saw Ozpin sitting at his desk facing away from him and sighed. He couldn't believe he would have to do this, knocking three times on the window. That got Ozpin to immediately straighten and, he noticed, reach for his cane. But he relaxed as he saw Armis, tense confusion replaced by comical confusion. It took a minute for him to open a window and allow Armis in.

"How, by all that is dust, did you end up there?" He questioned.

"Climbed. Tell no one of this." He briefly replied, removing his hood.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow but returned to his desk, content to let the matter slide.

"Something has happened?"

"Yes, a lot has happened..." Ozpin sighed. "And nothing for the good. One of my students attacking an unarmed and defeated young boy. The media is having a field day."

Armis opened his mouth to speak, but Ozpin put a hand up.

"Don't tell me how this would never happen in the Imperium. I don't want to have that argument."

Armis debated for a moment, then spoke up.

"Yang was under the effects of an illusion."

There was a pause for a moment of absolute silence, as Ozpin stopped what he was doing and looked up at Armis.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It was weakly psychic in nature, she likely saw something completely different to what actually happened such as-"

"Mercury attacking first..." Ozpin finished, remembering Yang's pleas.

"Exactly."

"Do you have proof of this? Other than your own word? Anything?!"

"Nothing but my word." Armis shook his head, knowing how useless that was.

The people of Remnant didn't even know illusions were possible, let alone psychic powers and the warp. Trying to explain that to the people with just his word, a known associate of team RWBY and Beacon, would be futile.

Ozpin sighed, reading Armis thoughts, less literally.

"Furthermore, both Emerald and Mercury have been shipped off back to Haven." Ozpin told him. "We have no way of getting to them, or knowing their exact whereabouts."

Armis gritted his teeth and cursed his own foolishness. Of course they would cover their tracks! This wasn't some poorly laid out plan, this plot had perhaps been laid out years in advance.

"Which makes what I need you to do, even more important." Ozpin spoke again, flipping around his computer scroll to show the Vytal festival roster, with Mercury and Yang now crossed out and removed.

Armis could see all the participants and even the few he recognised, such as Pyrrha from Team JNPR and even Ciel from the Atlas Team. Armis chuckled inwardly at that. He hoped that Abominable Intelligence was far away from here, rotting in some scrap heap and rueing the day it had crossed him.

"There were six participants left in the singles line up."

"Were?"

A new participant's portrait, blank and lacking a picture, entered the roster as Ozpin continued.

"There was a recent tragedy in the forests surrounding Vale. A transport carrying a team of huntsmen and women in training from Haven was knocked out of the sky by a nevermore attack. The team had to then travel through heavily Grimm infested areas to get to Vale. Only one of them survived.

"And this is relevant, how?" Armis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That team had been scheduled to compete in the Vytal Festival Tournament, but didn't show up for the team fights. However, this very day that one survivor has been allowed into the singles fights, as a way of honouring the now deceased team. Taking the roster up to seven."

"Vytal just allowed that?"

"As the hosting kingdom, Vale ultimately has the last say and can you blame them? The image of both Beacon and Vale has been tarnished by Yang's supposed outburst. Refusing to allow a student from Haven a chance to honour their fallen would be tantamount to political suicide." Ozpin took a sip of coffee. "As tragic and untraditional as it is, it gives us a golden opportunity."

Armis remained silent, gesturing with a hand for him to continue.

"Whenever and for whatever reason the Vytal Tournament roster is uneven, one of the little known rules states that the hosting kingdom may balance it." Ozpin looked at the cloaked boy opposite him. "With a student of their choosing."

"Oh no."

"Armis, that student needs to be you."

"No."

"Armis please-"

"No!" He interrupted. "Find someone else, I'm not-"

"There is no one else!" Ozpin shouted, slamming his hand against his desk.

Armis looked shocked at the headmaster's sudden personality change. He could see the fury and frustration in his facial features, the fire in his eyes. As quickly as it came, the rage disappeared and Ozpin slumped back into his chair, taking another sip of coffee.

"There is no one else. No one else that I can both trust completely and is in a position to enter the tournament." Ozpin sighed and then pleaded Armis. "And I trust you Armis. I need someone on the front lines, watching for any sign of treachery. I need someone who can resist the powers of the warp just as I can. There is no one else like that."

Ozpin suddenly seemed to age decades, as he lay back in his chair, all his calm optimism gone, wasted away and spent.

"I feel so, so tired. The enemy... This Queen has taken the reputation of my friends, of my students. Yet why do I feel as though this is just the start of something so much worse. And why am I so helpless to stop it. She hides her minions right under my nose, while my sole duty and charge lies dying below my feet. But that isn't the worst of it. The man who I would once trust with my life, is at my side doubting me, sending his army to arrest my students, protect my people under threat of violence. And that still isn't enough." Ozpin looked up at Armis, and tapped a finger against his head. "Because you know the worst part don't you. The demons clawing at your head, constantly gnawing, biting, scratching at you, begging to be unleashed."

Armis walked towards the headmaster, wondering if this was perhaps what the Inquisitor would have looked like in his moments of weakness. Ozpin continued.

"We both have this power, this curse. It could do so much good, but you can never know if giving in, loosening that ironclad, yet very fragile grip you have over your mind just once, will mean giving in forever. I have struggled and fought against this urge for so damn long. I don't know if it's been years, decades or centuries anymore, but I have fought and won against these things in the void. It terrifies me that I don't know how much longer I can continue to do so. And they will never stop. Not until all the seconds in the hourglass of eternity have ran out."

Armis put a hand against Ozpin's shoulder, and for but a moment, their psychic consciousness' touched. Ozpin smiled. He knew what Armis wanted to say. He would say the same thing that the Inquisitor told him, as Armis himself struggled against the daemons.

Armis did not speak. Ozpin heard only the Inquisitor speaking in his head. A scene played out in front of him, a memory of a young Armis shivering in the bowels of a voidship, crying out against the invisible daemons that were clawing from the immaterium surrounding them. The Inquisitor sat with him whispering these words.

"This feeling of helplessness that grips you? Hold onto it. That feeling of losing your grip on the world? Keep it close. The feeling of the abyss staring into your soul. Engrain it into your very being. Those are the feelings of one who does not want to lose themselves to Chaos. Remember these feelings, because when you wake up tomorrow, the feeling of victory will be all the sweeter. You are alive and you have won. They are trapped and they have lost. Remember these feelings, because they will return. The daemons will seek to break you, every moment of every day. But you will not. Because the Emperor protects."

The young Armis looked up at the Inquisitor and replied in a voice both Armis' and Ozpin's.

"Why should the Emperor protect me? I'm nothing. He can protect everyone else, but not me.

The Inquisitor paused for a moment.

"The Emperor protects humanity. He protects me, he protects you, he protects us all.

"Why? Why does he protect us?"

The Inquisitor smiled at Armis, a golden memory amongst the tar black of a void.

"Because we are all nothing."

* * *

Unlike the screaming crowd around her, Ruby was not cheering any more. So many things had happened in such a short space of time. Even more than usual. Armis was somewhere, Yang was close to becoming a sobbing wreck, Blake and Weiss had deserted somewhere else. Ruby was especially upset how Blake had even hesitated to support Yang, let alone doubt her and make her cry. But right now she had other things to worry about. Because she had just seen Emerald on the other side of the arena.

'Emerald's here?' Her eyes widening in surprise and confusion. 'Hadn't her and the wounded Mercury been shipped off to Haven?'

Ruby's mind was ablaze with possibilities, but one suddenly came to the fore. Velvet had mentioned how even Coco, their laid-back leader, and suffered the same thing Yang supposedly had. Stress induced hallucinations. But what if she and Yang hadn't? Both of those times she had... Felt something wrong, and both times Emerald had been involved. She was pretty sure Armis had noticed as well.

Ruby got up out of her seat and set off to find out the truth. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she failed to hear the announcement for the remaining combatants to enter the arena.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Came the loud booming voice of Professor Port, echoing across the arena. "Before we can begin the second round of the singles tournament, we must introduce two new combatants! Barty, please take it away!"

Armis took that as his que to to start heading towards the centre where the other huntsmen and huntswomen-in-training waited in an orderly line. As the lights focused on him, the crowds cheering volume increased dramatically, in no small part because Nora was joining the shouting. His hood was down, but the intense light refracted slightly off his camo-cloak distorting his image somewhat.

"He needs no introduction as you'd have to be living under a rock not to have heard about him! He's been everywhere! He's been on a 'rampage,' on the news and now he's on the tournament line up for the Vytal Festival! It's Armis Zwolf!"

Armis felt extremely uncomfortable with so many eyes upon him, it only helped a slight bit that they weren't malicious eyes. He reached his place at the end of the line and stood straight, like he had seen many a guardsman do in front of a commissar. He mused that this was probably how they felt.

"We have no documented evidence of his semblance, or any certain set of skills, but I think we all know what Armis hides under that cloak." Professor Port could resist but to add.

A number of the crowd chuckled, while Armis only gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Do try to restrain yourself Peter." Oobleck sighed, but quickly returned to the topic at hand. "Fighting for the honour of the late Haven team, we perhaps have even more of a unknown than Armis!"

From the other side of the arena, a gigantic figure emerged. Covered head to toe in a brown ragged cloak, hood included, the newcomer strode purposely towards the line of students. Not even Yatsuhashi of team CFVY was that tall, and this got a large number of eyebrows raised. The shoulders were especially pronounced, giving the giant a much broader appearance. Armis could hear the clank of heavy armour muffled under the fabric that hid the figures body. That at least explained the size and was probably an intimidation tactic. He should know, he used the same tactic all the time.

"Her semblance is listed only as 'Aura Manipulation' and low and behold we have no idea what she's capable off either! Looks like we have two wild cards for this tournament! But let's not forget, last but certainly not least, give it up for Justitia Pharimes! What a name!"

'Her?!' Came the collective thought process of the whole arena.

That got both eyes to widen and jaws to drop, and everyone including Armis leaned out of the line to look at the huntswomen-in-training again. She walked past them all and came to a stop right next to Armis. The contrast was obvious, the two cloaked combatants right next to each other.

"Seriously!" Professor Port announced. "Where do they get their cloaks? Now I want one!"

"Not for sale..." Armis muttered under his breath.

The slot machines with the contestants faces on it soon began to spin up.

* * *

"Alright it's now time to begin the randomisation process for our next fight."

"Mercury?"

"It looks like our first contender is... Armis Zwolf from Beacon!"

"What are you doing?"

"And his opponent will be... Justitia Pharimes of Haven!"

Ruby's eyes widened at the mention of Armis' name. Why was he competing? But more importantly, who was he going against?

"Who's..."

"Who's Pharimes? It's an anagram." Mercury smirked.

Ruby's eye widened in realisation.

"For Seraphim." He finished.

She reached for her non-existent weapon, while Mercury got into a combat stance.

* * *

Armis felt his altitude shift as the platform he and his opponent were standing on rose into the air. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. He had been given a run down of the rules earlier, it was either down to Aura depletion or ring out. Since he had no aura he had been made to promise that he would keep his conversion field on at all times. Ozpin himself was monitoring the fight, adjusting what the board said his Aura level was at all times. If he took a hit, Ozpin would drop his aura. If he was visibly wounded, Ozpin would drop his aura to zero and the fight would be over. Armis sighed. He would just have to end the fight quickly and go for a ring out.

"Fighters, are you ready?"

Both his head and the hood opposite him, nodded.

"Three. Two. One! Begin."

Armis immediately started running forwards, cloak parting to unleash a hail of bullets, in an attempt to use the sheer weight of ammunition to push his opponent back. She made no attempt to block, and only braced her legs to weather the storm. The cloak she wore became quickly shredded. As Armis began to draw closer into melee range, he jumped several feet into the air, half a dozen fists raised high for a sledgehammer blow. That finally got his opponent into motion, a black gauntleted hand gripped the tattered cloak and ripped it away with ease.

The first thing he heard was the familiar sound of servo's and artificial muscle stretching. Armis faltered mid air. Under the cloak, he could now see his guess of heavy armour was true. But it was the exact nature of the armour that shocked Armis to the core. It was pitch black, curved and thick, with embellishments that he would recognised from anywhere. The pronounced shoulder plates, that stretched almost completely horizontally to the sides, bore two emblems. The left bore a silver two headed eagle. The second, a fleur de lys of the same metal. More silver was engraved in the form of several studs that ran in neat lines across the armour. Armis quickly realised the full magnitude of what he now faced. His opponent had a full suit of Adeptus Sororitas power armour, complete with a Celestian enclosed helmet. The white face plate allowed only the gold tinted eyes of the helmet to pierce through.

To make matters worse, the second thing he heard was the armour clad woman herself speak.

"Showtime." Seraphim grinned, as her plated fist connected with Armis' jaw.

The resulting flash blinded the both of them.

* * *

"Showtime." Mercury smirked, his left bionic crashing into Ruby's vulnerable stomach, not a moment before a crunching right kick sent her skidding into her back.

A pressurised air dust bullet shattered Ruby's phone scroll, blowing it out of her hand to scatter across the floor.

"Let's just keep this between us 'friends.'" Mercury said, voice heavy with gleeful sarcasm.

He dashed forwards to resume their one sided fight.

Ruby put her arm up to block, but her aura just barely was able to deflect the two footed flying kick that Mercury sent her way. Her defence was easily batted aside and Ruby cried out as Mercury shot a blast of pressurised air into her face and kicked her across the floor. She was sent skidding even further down the hallway, further away from her goal, from saving Armis. Ruby coughed heavily, she could feel something tight against her chest, stabbing her, making it hard for her to breath.

Before she could even fully get back up off her feat Mercury was already swinging. Ruby blocked as best she could, trying to use her own bionic to turn aside Mercury's, but he had two and knew how to use them. She was being knocked around like a ragdoll, off the walls, against the floor, Mercury didn't let up. A kick across her face, blinded her with pain. A punch to the gut left her winded and tasting blood. Her aura was letting more and more damage actually get through. Finally, a pinwheel kick Ruby had no way of seeing coming, connected with her chin and ricocheted off her nose.

Her aura gave way completely and she could taste blood, both welling up from her throat, and pouring in from her nose. Tears were in her eyes, she was in so much pain. She looked up, only to see Mercury smiling over her, as though nothing had even happened.

"Why... Why are you doing these things?"

"You think this was all just on a whim?" Mercury laughed. "The White Fang, the Breach, Yang's fall and now this? Oh no we've been preparing this for a long, long time now. Like you have no idea, how long."

Mercury kicked her again in the stomach and Ruby could only curl up into a ball and take it.

"Oh it wasn't easy." He gritted his teeth, punctuating every sentence with another brutal kick. "Setting up the warehouse, stealing the dust, getting into this tournament, hijacking a train! Had to constantly contend with problems. The AI girl, Metzger, your team!"

Mercury punctured that last sentence with a crowning kick that sent her rolling in a bundle of useless limbs across the hard stone floor. Ruby was on her last legs. Her breath came haltingly, ragged. She felt unconsciousness beckon her, bloody spots in her vision. Every one of Mercury's attacks was like a dust propelled sledgehammer, with little to no aura protecting her. She couldn't feel anything but pain. Pain everywhere.

"But it's all been worth it! The look on Yang's face as she tried to figure out what was happening!" Mercury laughed, long and hard, bending over backwards. "Priceless. And what's gonna happen to Armis is gonna be even better."

Ruby struggled to speak, but she did, though every word hurt her. She could hear only Mercury's footsteps approaching.

"Armis... Won't lose. He's... Strong..." Was all she could muster.

"Against Seraphim?! Are you serious?"

Mercury was now kneeling to get a good look at Ruby's face. It was bruised, cut and bleeding. Her nose was a mess and one of her right eye was beginning to swell shut.

"Now I've seen Armis fight and I've got him all figured out. He's great at fighting the weaklings. He'll slaughter a hundred Grimm or half a dozen lightly armed huntsmen sure. But put him against Seraphim..."

He allowed Ruby to draw her own terrifying conclusions. Before stamping on her face a final time, finishing with a twist of his heel.

* * *

Pained unconsciousness was not a psyker's best friend, as Ruby was currently discovering. It was as though she was weightless, whirling through space with no sense of direction, her brain bouncing around in her skull. She was falling, flying, skimming, tumbling through twisting tunnels and an infinitely changing void of colour. As her mind grew to some level of awareness, Ruby wondered if this was the warp. It certainly fit the description.

"Or at least the description that you've been told, which your subconscious inevitably got you to imagine such a place. And so the warp appears as such."

Ruby's head turned to the disjointed voice. She picked up familiar tones, but they were all distorted and muddled together. Her own voice, Yang's, Tai's, Jaune's and more besides.

"Who?" She tried, but immense pain started to course through her chest.

She looked down at her own body to see it was broken and even fluctuating. Wounds opened and bruises formed on her as quickly as they healed. Pain began to dim and spike, but she managed to contain a cry of agony.

"Ah yes that is rather concerning. It seems along with all the other wounds your body has suffered at the hands, or more correctly, feet of that brutish boy, you've also suffered a bit of mental trauma. Nothing permanent at least, but it seems to be having an effect on your psychic abilities."

"Who?" She tried again, her voice weak and quite, barely a whisper.

The voice remained silent for a time. For what felt like the longest of times, leaving Ruby alone to her thoughts.

"I'm not really a person, but technically you could say i'm you." The voice suddenly became hers and a person that looked just like her, blurry through Ruby's eyes, appeared. "But that would inevitably lead you to subconsciously imagine me to have your voice, and appear as you."

Her doppellganger looked down at itself and seemed to sigh.

"See? Technically again, I could be anyone, Yang, Ren, Blake, Jaune…" As it spoke its voice and appearance shifted to the corresponding name it just spoke. "Hell I could even be Armis!"

The very mention of his name, and his sudden appearance in front of her, jolted her back to reality, or at least whatever counted for reality in this messed up dimension.

"Armis! Where is he? I want to see Armis!" Ruby cried, trying to flip over and stand on nothing, but she immediately flopped onto her front as she realised her augmetic hand was no longer there. Just a rounded stump.

Armis looked down at her and frowned.

"Ooooh... you shouldn't have said that."

Ruby's vision darkened again. Or perhaps it brightened until she couldn't see anything anymore. But she felt herself falling. Yes, definitely falling this time. Suddenly the vastness of space opened up before her, the twinkling stars of far off galaxies, the huge red orb of a planet still hundreds of thousands of miles away from her and a titanic vessel that was most assuredly coming straight for her! She raised her hand to cover her face, futilely trying to break her fall, and closed her eyes. She felt a jarring impact and then after the initial pain of landing subsided, the cold of a metal floor against her skin. She lay there for a while, contemplating if she really wanted to get up or if she could content herself with waiting. It seemed she would not, and with a groan she stood up awkwardly, unused to actually walking around with the reduced weight due to her missing arm.

She was in some kind of space ship, probably the one she had crashed into. But how she had gotten here, she had no idea. It was some kind of observatory, a large window that took up both a portion of the ceiling and the floor. Just in the centre was a pillar, just up to waist height, with a red button atop it. The planet she had seen was slowly rotating in the distance. It was truly beautiful, something that could change a person's perspective on life. It was bright red, so bright that the far off sun seemed to reflect off its surface like a precious gem. Clouds were almost non-existent, so not to take away from the planet's beauty and Ruby found herself staring at it. It reminded her of something, as though she and the planet shared a certain kinship.

A particularly invasive beam of light broke her out of her trance and she suddenly noticed the massive figure standing beside her. Ruby yelped and jumped away in surprise, but the figure didn't move, or even react to her. She took a step forward and leaned so to get a better look and she immediately recognized the man's face, despite the thick plating of the power armour he was wearing. The Inquisitor.

"Hello?" She tried, her voice so quiet that not even she could hear herself. "Can… Can you hear me?"

Again, no reaction. Ruby frowned. The rules of these dreams always kept changing and it was getting annoying. Before she could explore more the sound of hydraulics and the slam of doors sliding echoed behind her. She turned, but the Inquisitor remained facing the planet. Four figures entered. Two were equaling in size to the Inquisitor, but surprisingly only one was wearing a similar set of armour. It was the white haired woman from her previous dreams, the Sister of Battle who had tragically died to a sniper. So Ruby guessed that she had traveled to a time before that. The other was actually bigger than the Sister, a mountain of a man, muscles bulging out of the baggy clothes he was wearing. He was grinning madly, like a child would do when a parent had praised them too much. Green slabs of metal seemed crudely bolted to his body, but if they slowed him to any degree it did not show. The third was Magos, his familiar red cloak concealing the many mechatendrils that writhed about his person. And the final was another woman with fiery red hair, a smouldering cigar clutched tightly in her mount. A light suit of carapace was slung over her shoulder, the woman forgoing its use, but still keeping it close. A sort of jet pack was held in her other hand, but it didn't look like it was powered by any sort of dust, or even fuel. The four entered the room, and silence consumed the room. Slowly, with purpose. The Inquisitor spoke.

"Bring me Armis."

The power armoured sister immediately turned and seemed to grab at something behind her. A cry of pain reached Ruby's ears and she immediately recognised it.

"Mutant! Your Lord demands your accursed presence." She growled dragging a non-cloaked Armis across the room by his shoulder. The sound of bones grinding against one another made both Ruby and the giant man wince.

Groaning and grunting as he bumped and bashed across the hard metal floor, only to be thrown forward, sliding across the glass to stop. Ruby tried to rush to his side and help him, but her hand just passed through his body. She looked at him, so much younger than she had even seen him before, he looked so thin, gaunt as though from starvation. He seemed so… small. Weak and vulnerable, like a breeze would knock him over, nothing like the Armis she knew. Painstakingly slowly, he got up, shivering in fear.

"Stand with me boy."

Armis scrambled to his feet, almost getting Ruby to fall back in surprise. Like a shot he was beside the Inquisitor, although he always seemed to twitch away from him in fear, dwarfed by his shadow. A power armoured gauntlet gestured out into the void, to the planet below.

"Do you see this planet boy? This is a garden world, one of the many in this sector, a shining example of what this Imperium can achieve. Its citizens have access to both good food and clean water. Everyone has a mode of transportation and even the servants are treated with respect."

At his words Armis looked at the planet, a jewel in the darkness. Awe was evident on his face and he took a step forward to get a better look. The Inquisitor smiled at such wondrous curiosity.

"We have been in orbit around this planet, for several weeks now, although you would not have noticed. The team behind you and I were enjoying some much needed relaxation on world, and believe me it is everything it appears to be. But there is also more to this planet than its outward appearance. Something out of the ordinary, that sets it apart from the rest. I allowed my retinue to enjoy themselves and explore this extraordinary planet for themselves. The reputation of being a inquisitorial agent got them into some amazing places. They were looked after very capably, ate to their heart's content and enjoyed exquisite dreamless sleep. My retinue even left gifts across the world, as thanks for the inhabitants hospitality."

Armis looked more and more downtrodden as the Inquisitor continued, torturously listing everything he believed he could never have. But then the Inquisitor spoke again.

"I allowed them the pleasure of visiting this world for one reason. Do you know what this reason is?"

Armis looked at the Inquisitor confused, and then panicked as he struggled to come up with an answer.

"You may speak when spoken too Armis."

"I… I don't know, Lord." Armis mumbled hesitantly.

"It was because they followed orders. To the letter, no matter what it was."

The Inquisitor turned around and walked with booming footsteps over to his retinue, leaving Armis alone on the glass observatory.

"Do you want to follow orders Armis?"

A frantic nod of the head gave him all the answers he needed.

"Then follow mine. Press the button Armis." The Inquisitor gestured to the red button precisly in the middle of the glass flooring.

The boy nodded his head furiously and immediately hovered his hand over the button. With little hesitation he pressed down, rewarded with a resounding click.

For a moment nothing happened. Armis looked to his Inquisitor and his retinue with a worried smile on his face, wondering if he had pleased the Inquisitor with his actions. But they were not looking at him. He turned his head to the red planet, so beautiful and bright against the backdrop of space. The place where all his dreams could be filled, if just temporarily. He could eat, he could relax, he could sleep dreamlessly. But that small moment of happiness, slowly rotted and fell apart as events unfolded. It was slow at first, the planet's proportion not seeming right, the few clouds that could be seen growing dark and more numerous. Then the mushroom clouds started appearing, massive, blotting out the surface. Orange waves flashed across the surface and gargantuan cracks formed on the world. The sound would have been deafening if they had been able to hear it, as the very planet cracked under its own weight, splitting apart with tectonic force. Across the planet, in chain reactions more mushroom clouds blossomed and did their terrible work. Soon there would be nothing left.

Ruby had tears in her eyes and her mouth was wide in horror. Nothing she had ever experienced compared to this feeling. As though something had just been lost to the universe. She saw Armis' legs begin to buckle and she instinctively ran forwards to catch him. To both of their surprises, she did. He didn't seem to pay much attention however, and despite his own tears, he couldn't take his eyes of the dying planet, its death throes almost hypnotizing. The thud of boots sounded from behind them and they both glanced up to see the Inquisitor observing the planet at their side.

"Why?" Armis cried, his voice weak and hoarse.

"This planet was a garden world and was home to one billion souls." The Inquisitor started, Armis' eyes widening, a number placed on the destruction he had caused. "Its people had everything they could ever desire. But had they done something wrong? Something to deserve this?"

The inquisitor looked down at him, completely ignoring Ruby.

"Had they converted to Chaos? Were they being warped into something heretical? Perhaps. Or perhaps this was just to set an example for the other nearby garden worlds, their lifestyle so contenting that chaos corruption was becoming too close for comfort. After all, it is in man's nature to always ask for more, never be truly contented. The point I am making is that it does not matter why. Whether these people were innocent or guilty may haunt you for the rest of your life, but it doesn't matter. The men and women behind you were not rewarded with finery and a good life because they followed orders. They, and I, are alive because they followed orders!"

"Wha… what was it called?" Armis spoke, almost in a trance, his mind barely comprehending the true enormity of his action.

"To the Imperium, it was simply known as Surgen VII. But the locals had a low gothic translation, that they have used since before the Imperium's arrival. They called their planet the Ruby Rose."

Armis lowered his head to weep and Ruby tried to grip him tighter. Tried to keep Armis. Keep him with her, keep him from giving up on life, keep him from giving up on sanity. She needed him to stay, needed him to keep on going because how else was he supposed to show up at Beacon? How else was she going to rebuild his shattered dreams? Let him eat whatever he wanted, let him sleep for however long he wanted, let him finally find some semblance of peace after all this maddening violence.

"Stay with me Armis! Promise me you won't give in! Promise me you won't stop until you find me! I promise you to do the same!" Ruby sobbed, tears pouring down her face. "I promise to be there for you when you need me, just as you have done for me!"

Ruby felt herself being torn away by the same force that always pulled her back to the real world. Back to Remnant. But before she left she heard Armis say one more thing.

"I promise."

* * *

 ** _With only a little information gathered from Seraphim, Armis knows little of Cinder's plans. But it seems Ozpin's own plan has had some disastrous and unforeseen consequences. While the headmaster fights his demons, the second round of the Vytal Festival Tournament gets underway, Armis now facing off against Seraphim revealed to be in a full set of familiar power armour. All the while Ruby struggles to reach him. Beaten and Broken by Mercury, in bloody unconsciousness she experiences another vision. But what shall she do, once she returns to the land of the living?_**

 ** _Apologies for taking so long with this chapter, but if its any consolation I wrote so much for this chapter that I decided to split it in half. So there ill not be much of a wait for the next update, as it will not take me long to go over the second half. And dont worry, chaoter twenty will be around the same length as this one. Thanks to everyone reading this story and thank you to everyone favouriting, following and leaving reviews. It really means a lot._**

 ** _Reviews and criticisms are welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	20. Chapter 20

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: Ozpin's maneuvering has allowed Armis to join the Vytal Festival Tournament, but it seems to have backfired rather spectacularly for Armis. Seraphim, with Cinder's aid has done the same and now the two face each other. Who is Seraphim? How does she have power armour? But close by Ruby has been beaten and bloodied, Mercury the one dishing out the punishment. A brief laps in consciousness has led to another vision, where Armis is tricked into claiming the lives of a billion innocents. And both Ruby and Armis make a promise to one another.**_

 _ **Potato man the semi ominpotent: It would help yes. Although Marines have a tendency to set bolters to 'heresy' first and convert population to the Emperor second. One of the reasons i cant really enjoy many Space Marine OC stories. A good enough reason for why the superhuman psychopath/sociopath/both isn't adding bolt rounds to peoples faces, isn't given.**_

 _ **Emperor KingPerby: I try, I try.**_

 _ **Nemris: More about Seraphim will be revealed in this chapter and things might take a unexpected turn in the future. See if you can guess her origin... Welp, now young Armis has a high (**_ potential _ **) heretic kill count. And no the Inquisitor is not the most stable of people. But being a Inquisitor, a psyker as well as having your Felinid wife die, can you honestly say that anyone would be sane after all that?**_

 _ **ATP: I agree and disagree with your statement on the IoM. There may be cruel idiots in their ranks, but as a whole they are anything but. Everything the Imperium does, is out of necessity, and is a hell of alot more humane that whatever the other horrors of the galaxy would do to you. And the Imperium has on many occasions proved they can defeat numerically superior forces.**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I own neither RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

Armis didn't like this at all. He also didn't like the fact that he was flying backwards through the air or that he was temporarily blinded by his own barrier, but that was the least of his problems. He glanced to the aura board while upside down to see his 'Aura' had taken a massive hit. Just shy of sixty percent. He was able to flip over and land, only a metre away from the edge of the floating arena.

"What a punch! What a reveal!" Came the annoying voice of Professor Port.

"And it looks like Justitia is wearing a full suit of rather impressive plate mail, a rarity in this day and age." Professor Oobleck added.

That was Armis first and foremost concern. The last vestiges of blinding brightness were now fading from his vision and he saw Seraphim was recovering as well. In their last encounter Seraphim had been able to pass on her aura to her sword and her shield. That likely meant she could do the same for her suit of power armour, if that aura enhanced punch had been anything to go by. Not only did that eliminate his previous strategy of breaking her arm through momentum, but also meant that his transonic blades had become nothing better than iron swords. While usually able to cut through any and all materials through finding said materials resonant frequency and parting whatever they passed through like butter, Aura was different. It was not a material that could be grasped, it was the manifestation of a Remnanter's soul. What is the resonant frequency of a soul? The transonic blades couldn't fathom it and neither could Armis. To make things even worst than they already were, everything he needed to give him a better chance of defeating such a foe, he had left in his room, in the secured cache. His plasma gun, the neurostatic generator, even his thresher wire.

Seraphim now strode towards him, the sheer weight of the armour causing the arena floor to fracture minutely, chips bouncing around and plummeting off the edge. Her usual golden sword and shield were radiating a brilliant light, that messed with Armis' eyes due to his recent blinding, but he quickly got used to their intensity.

"And what's this? Where did those weapons come from? Is this the true power of her semblance?!"

'She had likely summoned them while I was looking away.' Armis mused, answering the announcers question to himself only.

The crowd were going wild. To them this was nothing more than a extra surprise event that had become particularly exciting. They were there for entertainment and this round certainly looked as it would supply it. Despite her colour scheme change, the contrasts between Seraphim and Armis were blatantly obvious. Members of the crowd thought to lable the fight in a number of ways. Evasive rogue vs the stalwart knight. The strong and tall man vs a stronger and taller woman. David vs the hypothetical Goliath. But for Seraphim and Armis, this fight was something more. The cloak began whipping to the side as he began moving again, circling the arena, boltshells and stub rounds bouncing off his opponent's shield.

To Armis this was both a mission from Ozpin, one he was trusted not to fail, and a mystery that needed to be solved. To Seraphim it was the challenge she had been searching for. And the opportunity to prove something to Armis.

"Do you believe me now Metzger!" Seraphim roared as her blade arced towards him. "This is my mother's armour!"

Armis ducked under the blade, and then dived to the left, as the massive shield threatened to flatten him. Armis manoeuvred in close and out from his cloak, hidden till the last second, a stiletto dagger appeared stabbing for Seraphim's eyes. The woman turned her head into the blade and it simply stopped, grating against aura.

"Where are you from? Who was your mother?!" He questioned.

Armis jumped back and continued to unload more ammunition into her, trying to think up of a plan. The bullets pinged off her shield again, except for a single bolt round that glanced off the top and detonated in Seraphim's face. She recoiled back, more from the surprise and flash of light than from pain, but Armis was already moving. He charged towards her shield arm. With a swiftly executed sidestep, he avoided the resulting blind strike from Seraphim's shield.

Getting in close once again, giving her no room to manoeuvre her tower shield, Armis blocked the next sword swing with half a dozen lesser blades, all crisscrossing to form a defensive mesh that locked down the sword. All the while, the remaining five on his right shot forth in unison, transonic blades followed by monomolecular knives, crashing against Seraphim's aura. Armis put all his strength into retracting and striking again and again, aiming at the weakest point in the armour, the lower stomach and hips. But it did no good. Armis wasn't even scratching the paint. Literally. Her aura was just not breaking.

"Mantle." Seraphim replied, as Armis suddenly felt a hand gripping against his right shoulder. "And I have no idea!"

Seraphim had abandoned her shield to grab him, and his arms were painfully crushed against one another. Seraphim twisted around and pulled. Armis felt himself become weightless and be thrown across the arena again. He landed badly and skidded for a moment.

"You don't know? How could you not-?" Armis began as he got up.

His eyes widened as he saw Seraphim hurl her sword at him like a javelin, and he dropped back down to the floor, the blade streaking over him and out of the arena. As Armis tried to recover again, a large shadow passed over him.

"She didn't tell me!" Seraphim roared, slamming her shield down upon Armis, the conversion field luckily sparking to life again before it flattened him.

"For twenty years she cared for me, protected me. But not once did she tell me her name!"

She raised her shield once again, but this time Armis rolled out of the way, his feet feeling the arena quake at the force of her attack. His conversion field wasn't gonna take much more of this. He saw his aura read somewhere about thirty percent. But to his humiliation Seraphim's bar was still in the green. Barely ten percent had been knocked off. The fact that all his efforts had garnered so little, hit Armis harder than hehad expected.

"For twenty years she trained me, punished me and pushed me beyond sanity! Taking out her anger on her cursed bastard daughter! Only after the fifteenth year did I receive my name. After my semblance and Aura was revealed, that I had painstakingly kept hidden in fear of her."

Seraphim was running now, large footfalls echoing through the arena. She aimed a kick at his head, but he jumped and pushed off her plated knee, soaring over her head. He felt the pain in his shoulders spike as his arms snapped together, bundling into one. With a scream of effort, Armis broke his fingers against Seraphim's head as she turned to face his landing zone. The attack gained him only a moment of respite and in that moment, the second his feet touched the ground, he was jumping again as Seraphim's shield was swung low at his legs.

"Mutant! That was all my mother ever called me! Do you have any idea what that's like?"

A pair of swords swung low as well, only to shatter against her shield. Armis' uppermost hands gripped the top of the shield and he vaulted over the top, feet slotting between his arms and landing a double footed kick against her chest, at the same time, his bionic talons raked across her armoured throat and three more blades hammered against her face.

"Yes." Armis replied with a grunt.

* * *

"What. The. Hell!" Yang shouted.

The moment she had heard about Armis participating in the tournament, she knew she would have to take her chances. She knew what she had seen when Armis had freaked out. And now she could prove it! Prove that Armis was nothing but trouble, literally insane and a danger to them all. She just hadn't expected the depths of that insanity.

Yang had burst into the room forcefully, breaking the door frame and lock rather than the whole door this time. After gathering up several of the diagrams, of Beacon huntsmen and women in particular, she had came across something else entirely. A leather bound journal, containing detailed profiles. Of them!

* * *

Meanwhile, below Armis' room a blaring alarm began to ring out, echoing across the room, disturbing the two occupants.

"Now what could that be? Initiate! With me."

Footsteps signalled the twos exit, one the normal padding of shoes, the other the clank and whirr of machinery.

* * *

Names of her teammates, her friends and herself passed by, listing weaponry, semblances, strengths and weaknesses. They were all included in this single journal. Each page was filled with information. Next to the more detailed descriptions, basic notes caught her attention.

Yang Xiao Long: Temper linked to Semblance. Leads to aura exhaustion and failure to recognise unfavourable situations. Exploit.

Nora Valkyrie: Naive and absorbs lightning. Easily led on and manipulated. Exploit.

Blake Belladona: Nerves frayed on mention of Abhuman heritage. Gambol Shroud ribbon easily caught and tangled. Exploit.

Pyrrha Nikos: Skilled warrior and powerful semblance. Afraid of disheartening wounds and blood. Exploit.

Weiss Schnee: Believes herself to be more manipulative than she actually is. Fighting ability relies on single easily disabled weapon. Exploit.

Coco Adel: Overconfident. Failure to make use of Assault cannons range. Exploit.

Yang was taken aback. The list just went on. Teachers, robots, Grimm and other monsters all had their place here. All except for one. Yang skimmed through the pages quickly, landing on the final page. Yang's eyes widened.

Written across the top of the page, nearly and orderly was her sister's name. But below it was a mess of scribbled out words, half written illegible sentences and spidery hand writing. Many of the words were in another language or unreadable completely, Yang could only read eight.

Ruby Rose, Red Reaper.

NEVER EXPLOIT. NEVER GIVE IN.

* * *

Seraphim abandoned her shield, as he expected, but Armis had already dropped to the floor and slid between her legs before she could grab him. Say what you want about power armour, unless the wielder had an astartes' black carapace, it was going to slow you down. And that's what he was counting on.

Seraphim expected to feel explosions and bullets ping off her back, but they didn't. She turned slowly to see Armis standing in the middle of the arena, watching as she saw his arm spilt apart into their normal six. Blood was dripping down one of them, jagged bone piercing the skin. But luckily none of the crowd seems to notice. He seemed not to care anymore, standing there in melancholy.

"How? How could you possibly know what it's like?" With a hiss of escaping air, Seraphim removed her helmet and clamped it to her belt.

Blonde hair falling across her armour, a stark contrast to her dark armour. She pulled her sword out from nowhere, the greatsword forming from nothing but glowing radiant particles. She held it close to her chest with both hands, shield forgotten.

"To live as long as I have. To be immortal yet see so many others die. To die to Grimm, to old age, to the Great War, to your own sword. Again and again. How old are you to claim you understand! How many have you killed to feel that loss!"

There was a moment of pause. And then Armis seemed to chuckle. Seraphim's eyes flared in anger and she charged forward with a wordless battle cry at her lips. Armis counter charged, seeing no alternative. He could not bypass her Aura through precise strikes. Nor could he force her off the edge due to the power armour's weight, not to mention Seraphim's skill. She wasn't going to fall for any normal ruse. And so it came down to overwhelming force.

Four of his swords intercepted hers, and Armis felt his legs buckle under the sheer force. His remaining weapons pinged and deflected off Seraphim's Aura. But regardless, their duel of attrition began, and the odds had never been stacked higher against him. They were locked together in heated confrontation, trading mighty sword swing for a dozen lightning strikes. Whenever Armis blocked her sword, usually taking four or even five of his arms to do so, it was as if a wrecking ball had impacted across his body. Even deflecting the blade took concentrated effort. But Armis could do nothing if not multitask. For every swing he dodged, parried or took to his conversion field, he gave a dozen more back.

It took a moment, but both combatants realised it as one. They were both smiling, teeth gritted both in effort and concentration. They were enjoying this bout, despite how one sided it seemed. After all, neither of them had taken a serious injury. Although that disappointed Seraphim, it was a miracle to Armis. And so he continued to fight. Neither gaining or losing ground, a stalemate.

Seraphim was in heaven. No one had lasted this long, fought this hard, given so much. Just to beat her. Almost anyone else would have been dead. The rest would have surrendered, given up. Only Armis continued to fight her. She had no idea how long she had been fighting, and she no longer cared. She wished it would last. For them to fight until the the next day, and the days after than. But it was not to be.

A buzzer went off as Ozpin finally gave in and made Armis' 'aura' bar hit fifteen, the knockout requirement. The crowd were all on their feet, cheering and waving.

"Justitia Pharimes wins! And what a fight it was!"

Seraphim lowered her sword, a saddened look on her face. Armis took a step back and breathed in deeply, trying to catch his breath. His skin was drenched in sweat and around him, the conversion field flickered for a second longer, before powering down for good. Armis looked around the crowd, cheering not just for the winner it seemed, but for the loser as well. He could see Nora and Ren on their feet clapping and yelling his name.

But as his eyes scanned the crowd, they locked onto another's. Emerald.

Armis heard Seraphim's voice behind him, sounding strangely distorted.

"How's Ruby Rose? I hope they didn't beat her too badly."

Time slowed to a crawl as his mind processed what was happening. He felt Emerald's power crawl into his mind, twisting it to its own whim. He heard the groan of metal as Seraphim drew her sword again and ran at him, blade cutting a sparking trench as it was dragged across the floor. She was suddenly a true giant, twice, no ten times as tall as before, her eyes burning as red as a Grimms.

Everything distorted and grew dark as the titan roared at him, screaming three horrible words.

"You. Are. Nothing!"

* * *

The room beneath Armis', Magos' sanctuary was abandoned. Both occupants leaving to check up on the silent alarm that was still blaring through the silent room. But now a second alarm was sounding out. Drowned out by its louder cousin, but it still tried. It's wail was a babies attempt to alert its parent. It cried.

The crying came from the latest device in the sanctuary, a machine spirit, young and cruel, but it tried as hard as any other to do its job. But no one could hear it. It was alone. No one to endorse its torturous, but necessary methods. And it felt the threat, the very thing it have been made to alleviate, growing all the stronger.

The machine man and woman were no longer within earshot, and even if they were the other alarm drowned it out. Currently they were taking the stairs up to the student dorms. Magos was making a rather appalling racket, that could have be confused with the noise of dragging the inner workings of a grandfather clock up a flight of stairs. Emilia, or Patient One as she was more commonly referred to now, was trying to be more subtle, but realised it was futile. Both because of her clanking companion and because most of the students were away watching the tournament.

"What happens if there is a hostile in the room?" She asked tentatively.

"I explained this to you just before we left. Is your memory impaired?" Magos asked not sarcastically or rhetorically, but with genuine concern.

"No, I remember. I'm just having trouble understanding what you mean by 'eliminate.'"

Patient One drew air quotes with her fingers at the word eliminate. She wouldn't usually do such a thing but she had been testing numerous gestures around Magos to see if any of them stuck. It would seem this one wouldn't either.A whirring breath of hot filtered air signalled the Techpriest was sighing. Or he could be growling in annoyance. She wasn't quite sure, she hadn't gotten his emotional que's down yet, or his lack of them.

"If the rooms occupant is hostile we eliminate the threat of said hostile, either through diplomacy, incapacitation or violence." Magos explained, his words slow as though explaining things to a child.

"And the violence part equals..?"

"Shooting the threat until the threat ceases to be-"

"A threat right, ok so straight up murder."

"I prefer to refer to it as self-defence."

"And will it be?"

"Well no one will be able to tell the difference, so what does it matter?"

Emilia looked up at Magos in surprise. They had just reached Armis' dorm, the door slightly ajar, the sounds of rustling and scrunching paper coming from inside.

"But what if it's a student?"

Magos pushed open the door, revealing a surprised Yang, precariously balancing and damningly grabbing rolled up pieces of paper and a leather bound journal in her arms. She span around at the sound of heavy footsteps behind her, a loose scroll falling out of her grasp. It bounced and unrolled, splaying across the ground at Magos' feet. He looked down at it and saw a sketch of himself. It included several details on mechatendrites, augmetics and weakness' in his metal shell of a body. A brief note, in Armis' familiar handwriting, told him all he needed to know.

Magos Genatus: Manipulative and scheming. Always has a trick up his sleeve. Augmetics efficient and weaponry powerful, but each has specific weakness'. Recent introduction of apprentice. Unknown significance. Exploit.

Magos looked up at Yang, and she felt a shiver go down her spine as she saw a jet steam pour out of his mask with a hiss, blue artificial eyes glowing dangerously bright.. Patient One recognised that one. Anger.

"In that circumstance…" The techpriest grumbled to Emilia, a sound similar to that of a tank engine's coughing purrs. Or more likely, growling. "I believe interrogation would be most appropriate."

* * *

The victory announcement rang through the corridor, announcing Seraphim's victory.

"Oooh that can only mean one thing. Armis has no aura, and now he pays the price." Mercury grinned, looking down at Ruby.

The silvery grey haired boy got up and began walking away. The muffled clank of his boots echoed back against the cheering of the crowd.

Ruby lay motionless on the floor, blood sticking to her face as it dried against the cool floor. More tears joined the pool, not because of the pain she felt, but because of her failure to help. Failure to see Mercury and Emeralds treachery. Failure to protect her Sister and her team. And now she was failing to protect Armis.

'And it's their Inquisitor's, Mercury's, Emerald's, Seraphim's. All their fault.'

Her hand twitched. Her bionic hand. It twisted under her glove.

'Mercury did this to you. And now you can't save him. You can't fulfill your promise. Unless you accept my help.'

Her augmetic twitched again. And then it moved, rising up, splashing into the bleeding puddle by her face, staining it red.

'Mercury made you suffer. The Inquisitor made Armis suffer. He watched as his torments drove Armis to insanity. And now Mercury is going to watch Armis suffer. Emerald is going to make him suffer. And someone is going to profit from that suffering. Their team leader is going to profit. Cinder.'

Ruby' body pushed itself up, groaning in effort.

'Armis believes in you, just as we believe in him. He accepted your promise, he needs you now. He needs you to make sure none else suffers at the hands of Mercury or anyone else of his team. Armis has always called you by another name hasn't he, ever since you first fought him? Well right now, he doesn't need Ruby Rose. You know who he needs.'

"Well I better go." Mercury called back as he walked away. "Can't wait to see that bastard's reaction when Emerald shows him his worst nightmares all rolled into one."

"You sure about that?" Came a strained voice from down the hall.

Mercury stopped dead in his tracks. He felt an aura of pure malice envelop him and he would not lie and say that a shiver didn't run up his spine. The only time he had ever experienced anything like this, was when Salem was in the room. He turned slowly to see the bloodied Ruby standing before him, face clouded in shadow.

Mercury suddenly felt as though an abyss had opened in front of him. And as he stared into it, a demon was staring back.

'Who does Armis need?' Ruby thought, as step after step she stumbled towards Mercury. Her thoughts were sluggish and her movements slow, as though on auto-pilot, sleepwalking.

"Look here little girl." Emerald tried to say snarkily, as though his confidence hadnt suddenly dissapeared. He took up a combat stance. "Don't know what you're tryin' to pull, but you know how this will end. You've got no aura and no weapon."

'What does Armis need?'

Ruby's right hand twisted suddenly and the sound of tearing and ripping fabric got Mercury's eyes to widen. Behind that sleek glove was a metal augmetic, unlike anything he had seen Atlas make. Each of the fingers were clawed and ended at wicked edges. The once pristine metal was stained red upto the wrist joint.

'He needs his Red Reaper.'

Ruby sprung forward, lower body twisting into a cyclone of rose petals that propelled her forward.

"I'll tear you to pieces!"

The last thing Mercury saw that day was Ruby's eyes. They were glazed over, pupils missing. All he saw filling her eyes was forked lightning. And pure killing intent.

* * *

'Big mistake.' Armis told Emerald as his own psychic presence swiftly separated from his body and found her in the crowd.

It took barely a millisecond for him to smash aside her feeble mental defences, the savlar unused to being on the defensive. Within her mind he saw what illusion she had planned for him. It was rather pathetic.

'Now... You will see the world through my eyes.' Armis' voice echoed through Emerald's head.

Emerald felt her doom approaching. And it was made all the more terrifying that she could do nothing to stop it. She had not prepared for this! Cinder hadn't told her to expect this! This... This was a nightmare. Her worst nightmares all rolled into one.

She was suddenly somewhere else. On another world, in another galaxy. Surrounded by men and women by the thousands. But they were no longer human. They were ragged corpses, piles upon piles of dead, weeping blood from every pore. Emerald would have screamed but as one the sea of death rose up, wet hands grasping her, covering her mouth, wrapping round her body and pulling her down. Body after body fell atop of her until only the smallest beam of light could be seen from the sky.

And then the earthquakes began. At first she couldn't tell what the shouting was over her own terrified screaming, but she soon realised it was heavy footfalls.

'Thank Oum! Someone can rescue me!'

"Not even your God can help you now." Came a harsh reply.

Then the earthquake of footsteps was on top of her. A heavily armoured boots crushed the bodies down and the single ray of light flickered. Emerald cried out, but more and more bodies were piled on top of her and forced to the bottom, packing her in amounts the dead and dying. She couldn't see, she was being buried alive, she was suffocating. She would starve here. She would die her. Die in the dark. With a final crushing boot heel, the light disappeared completely.

* * *

As Emerald swiftly became a miserable gibbering wreck, Armis skimmed her recent memories, one particular memory immediately jumping out at him. A conversation.

"So we want this Metzger guy pissed right?" Came the voice of Mercury.

"Yeah? What about it?"

All Emerald received was a sadistic smile.

"I think I have an idea. He's friends with that Ruby girl isn't he?"

Armis immediately exited Emerald's mind in a panic.

'Where was Mercury? What was he doing? What had he done?'

With his psyniscience, he quickly found Mercury's unique psychic aura. His mind was like a open box and Armis immediately got a grasp of his most recent memories. He saw his encounter with Ruby. He saw Ruby struggle against the greater opponent and he saw her aura give way. But Mercury hadn't stopped there. Armis quickly broke the connection before the memories finished.

'He needed to find her!'

His psychic mind returned to his body, barely a second after it had been released. And Seraphim was still charging towards him, no longer titan sized. Armis ignored the armoured juggernaught and allowed her to approach. He would not fall for an illusion.

"What is Justitia doing!?" Came the booming voice of Professor Port.

Armis' eyes widened. If they could see her moving...

He attempted to jump back, but it wasn't enough to truly dodge Seraphim's upward slash. She had gotten too close. The main bulk of the blade remained clean, but the tip of the weapon became splattered in blood as it carved up his chest and face. Armis roared his pain and fell into his back, blood weeping from the long red line in his body. His cloak had been cut open and it fell off around his body.

The crowd gasped in unison as Armis' cries echoed across the arena. The boy clutched at his face, blood seeping from one of his many hands. Armis forced himself to get to one knee, his hands instinctively already reaching for his personal medical bag, trying to staunch the bleeding. But he needed to full assess the damage. The right side of his face was numb with pain but through force of will he removed his hand and opened his eyes. He could only see out of one of them.

"It is a shame that it has come down to this." He heard Seraphim talking again. "I truly am sorry, but sometimes even good men have to die. Good women too. And I must do what I promised I would do."

Armis saw a sword flash in front of his face, just handing in his singular vision.

"Ruby must have been special, if she meant so much to you that you would be distracted in battle. I hope you reunite in the afterlife."

Seraphim brought the blade over her head, but Armis just looked up at her. And started laughing.

* * *

Ruby's eyes snapped open and she screamed. She had just had the worst dream. It was horrible, and terrible and it… It…

'Why could she taste blood?' Ruby wondered before keeling over as the pain hit her.

She stumbled and tripped over something. The smell of death and blood returned, along with the taste. But she wasn't quite sure if it was all her blood. She was surrounded in too much of it. It was staining her dress a different shade.

Ruby turned around to see exactly what she had fallen over. It was a pair of bionic legs. And then some. The metal still remained connected to their respective fleshy parts, but those bits of meat were brutalised, torn from their rightful place on the body. Ruby screamed again and tried to scamper away, but more blood made her slip. Past the legs, motionless and bleeding was Mercury. Minus his legs obviously. Ruby' looked at her hands, they were covered in blood. Especially her bionic, which she could still see questionable bits of red meat hanging off. She shook the things off in terror. She wanted to faint, wanted to run away, wanted to hide. But a name snapped her back to reality.

'Armis.'

'That's right. Save Armis first, worry about bloody hands later.'

With that she sped off, tracking red prints all across the corridor. She arrived at the stadium just in time to see Armis' right eye behind split open by Seraphim's sword.

* * *

Seraphim didn't know what to think. Here she was about to execute a wounded man and her Metzger was laughing. Laughing in her face.

"What?" She questioned, genuinely curious.

"You..." Armis coughed up a wad of blood but continued to laugh and chuckle anyway. "You called me a good man."

"Aye?" She replied, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Armis laughed even louder, as though what she had said was the funniest thing in the world.

"Are those your last words?"

"No." Armis suddenly stopped laughing, voice becoming deeper and more intimidating.

Seraphim even took a step back in surprise. And in the hopes that Armis had more fight in him. She knew her job, but that wouldn't stop her from making the enjoyment last longer.

"You asked me two questions as we fought. Not specifically but you asked; how old are you, and how many have you killed." Armis stood up fully, synskin suit and eleven arms for all the crowd to see.

The black of the suit only marred by the wound in his chest. He looked Seraphim dead in the eye, and began clenching his organic hands into fists and cocking them all back, as though he was preparing to punch her with all eleven hands. As though that would do any good.

"I am forty three years of age. I will live for decades more as long as Ruby Rose still draws breath."

Seraphim's eyes widened in pure shock.

'Metzger is forty three?' For the first time she got a good look at Armis' now revealed face. "This boy is forty three? Could that mean...?'

Seraphim saw too late the crackling vortex of power that Armis was building within his many hands. Lighting and fire danced around his fingers and his eyes glazed over, glowing an ethereal white. She had only the time to materialise her shield in front of her.

"And when I see the Emperor on the Golden Throne upon Holy Terra, I will tell him it was by my hand that a billion souls were consigned to oblivion!"

With the crack of bone and the snap of muscle, Armis' hands shot forward and a tunnelling invisible beam exploded out of him. Reality twisted and curved around the beam, a psychic lance made up of all the latent energy and pent up emotion in Armis' body, unleashed by pain and fueled by rage.

There was no actual sound, and it even seemed that everything ceased to make it. Atlas robots stopped their marching, the crowd hung there, spell bound, the announcers trying to summon up words to say something, anything. Miles away, the encroaching Grimm hordes stopped for a moment and looked towards the source. A much greater distance away, a older being in the guise of both a woman and a Grimm turned her head slightly, sensing the disturbance. A smile played across Salem's face.

Seraphim held strong against this unknown attack that was pushing against her, shield being the first thing that it hit. The unnatural power seemed to envelop her. It was as though she was straining against a storm while at the same time it focused its wrath into a point and sook to impale her. Her very body balked at the very feeling of it, the sheer wrongness, as the energy passed through and over her. Just as suddenly the force stopped. She waited for a moment for the next barrage, but nothing happened. She lowered her shield and saw Armis on his knees, exhausted, but still his eyes burned into hers. Seraphim looked at her shield.

It felt lighter than before. That was the first thing that surprised her, there was a hole in her shield. A hole substantially larger than a football. The second thing that surprised her, as she looked further down was even more concerning. There was a hole in her chest as well. She started to cough up blood, blood that joined the red rivers that had already began pouring down her legs and out into the arena floor.

Seraphim looked back at Armis, confused pain evident all across her face.

"That... That..." She started, taking a single shivering step forward.

Her legs buckled, slowly falling backwards. With a loud slam that seemed to echo across the arena, Seraphim collapsed, the splatters of red at her feet soon becoming a growing pool of life blood.

"Hurt." Seraphim finished, a childish smile playing across her face as her eyes glazed over and stared at the broken moon in the sky.

The quiet continued for a single second more, before the every screen, across all of Vale all went red, displaying an ominous black queen piece.

 _"This... Is not a tragedy. This... Was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are in reality nothing more than men. Our academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here?"_

Across all the screens, the image shifted and changed, becoming darkened and grainy with static. But all could still recognise what it was showing. It showed Armis, or more accurately, Metzger, the shadowy murderer who had avoided Vale authorities for so long. The sounds of screaming could be heard in the background as he was seen slaughtering and brutalising faunus in what looked like some kind of warehouse. No white fang mask or logo could be seen. Only blood and body parts.

 _A sole survivor who sook only justice for her team, murdered by some Atlas experiment, endorsed by Ozpin. What possible reasoning could he have, allowing a monster such as this among your children, your people? Metzger had murdered dozens of your citizens, Faunus and human alike, yet your government not only do nothing, but allow such a man into your schools?_

 _And what, I ask you, is the headmaster teaching his students? First, a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither."_

 _Perhaps Ozpin felt as though allowing another Haven team into the tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps he wanted us to forget his part in allowing a tyrannical dictator occupy an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong, but I know that the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is equally undesirable._

 _Our kingdoms are at the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So, I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?_

* * *

 ** _The bell tolls for Beacon as Cinders plan is revealed. Armis is left wounded and exhausted, his psychic might bringing Seraphim low, for all of Vale to see. Yang has been caught red handed by a now incensed Magos. Something has awoken in Ruby, something new and terrible, yet it does not seem to mean any harm... Not to her at least, as Mercury painfully discovered. The Battle of Beacon begins now, how will they react? How will they adapt? And what else is in store for Armis and Ruby?_**

 ** _Reviews and criticisms are welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	21. Chapter 21

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: Armis and Ozpin seem to have fallen right into Cinders trap, with Armis being forced to use his psychic powers to impale Seraphim with a psychic lance. Now he must pay the price for it. Something has awakened in Ruby, something not even she knew existed. Mercury has been left bleeding and legless at her feet while she now rushes to Armis' side, a promise to keep. Fear is now flowing freely across Vale and across the world. The Grimm stir and the Battle of Beacon begins.**_

 _ **lordazemar0: SOULS FOR THE SOUL EMPEROR! GOLD FOR THE GOLDEN THRONE! Don't worry. There will be plenty of gore and severed limbs in the coming chapters.**_

 _ **RaptourusMaximus: Doom has come for Beacon, but its people may yet survive. But first they must fight for that right!**_

 _ **Potato man the semi omnipotent: Perhaps but it served its purpose. And what makes you think they're dead? And everyone will soon find that Salem has many more minions at her disposal... Let it be known that the planet broke before the guard did.**_

 _ **Fellowman: Thanks for staying on, and I hope your gonna be reading the latest chapter.**_

 _ **Nemris: Hehehe, appearances can be deceiving my friend. As are all things in the warp... How did you think it was gonna go down?**_

 _ **RaptourusMaximus (again): Exactly. Keep an eye out for the next chapters!**_

 _ **death korp commissinar: Thank you! I shall continue writing diligently knowing your bolt pistol is lovingly pointed at my head. Hope you enjoy this chapter... for my sake...**_

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I own neither RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

For one brief moment, Ruby thought everything would be ok. The video had played, Seraphim had fallen and Cinder had made her speech. But everything, everyone, remained silent. Despite the growing turmoil outside the arena, within its boundaries silence reigned. No one moved, spellbound by what they were hearing and seeing. Armis was still on his knees, head bent forward, the slightest crackle of lightning playing across his knuckles. The commentators held their head phones, hoping for any kind of response. The people glanced nervously at one another, waiting for someone to make a move, so they could be comforted in the actions of one another. Then came the knocking. And everyone looked up to see a giant Nevermore crashing its beak against the glass. Chaos shortly followed.

People screamed and trampled over one another, announcements blared, trying to calm the masses, overruled by an automated voice informing all that with each strike, the safety barrier was failing. Ruby could see Armis still kneeling in the centre of the arena, a bloody pool not far away. With adrenaline wearing off, Ruby had to fight her gag reflex. Not just from what she was seeing now, but from remembering what she had see just a few moments ago.

'What had happened to Mercury? Had she really done that?'

She had never seen so much blood and carnage in such a short amount of time. Where was everyone? Armis was wounded and unmoving. Team JNPR was lost in the crowds of the stands. Penny was missing and she hadn't seen Ozpin in days. Her team wasn't there to support her. Where was Blake and Weiss? Where was her sister? Where was Yang?

* * *

A few minutes before Cinder's broadcast had taken over every channel and station, Yang had been rushing around Armis' room. Gathering up as much evidence as she could, Yang was in the process of leaving with her stolen prizes, handfuls of Armis' documents and his journal in her hands. But just as the blonde huntress tried to leave through the broken door, someone else pushed it open and Yang was put in the extremely uncomfortable position of staring up into the eyes of a very tall, very angry looking Magos. A second seemed to stretch out to hours as the two stood off against one another.

"What are you doing?" Came the first words, the sound distorted by mechanical static.

Yang glanced down at the documents in her hands and at the mess she had made behind her.

"Nothing?" She tried weakly, an attempt at a confident cheeky smile starting on her lips.

That was immediately wiped off her face as a skeletal fist pistoned into her stomach. Her aura took the brunt of it, but she was still sent tumbling back to the other side of the room, winded. Her eyes starting to fill with rage, Yang got back to her feet and stared at the techpriest. She briefly noticed another robed person standing behind him, but didn't recognise the figure.

"Hand over all inquisitorial documents or I will be forced to harm, maim, and or kill you." Magos stated bluntly, a dozen or so mechanical tendrils flowing out of his robes, each with a red optic that burned with as much passion as Yang's eyes.

Ready to throw down, Yang got ready to charge, but was quickly interrupted as a sudden broadcast burst to life from three places. One was from a radio like device on Armis' desk, another was from the scroll in Yang's pocket. But the third strangely was coming from inside the robes of the person behind Magos. They all forgot their previous throughs and listened. Yang's face turned from confusion, to surprise and then horror as realisation dawned on her. Magos of course did react, but calculations ran through his head, predictions and theories forming and being scrapped in his computerised mind.

Yang started for the door again, but Magos' mechatendrils immediately snapped to face her. Yang faltered in her tracks, but concluded to fight anyway until Magos spoke up.

"Your blood-sibling is currently close to the arena. Early reports suggest that is where numerous aerial Grimm are attacking from. Delay could result in further harm coming to Ruby Rose."

"Then get out of my way!" Yang growled in frustration. "My sister needs me!"

"Hand over all Inquisitorial documents and I shall let you pass without harassment."

Yang decided without the slightest hesitation. She threw away all the paper in her hands and threw the journal at Magos, who caught it with a tendril.

"Sufficient enough." He commented, turning aside as Yang ran past him.

Magos threw the journal back into the room, as Patient One looked up at him.

"What should we do? Grimm are likely to attack soon, so what comes now?"

Magos seemed to consider the question, while a larger tendril lifting from out of his robes with what looked like a fuel canister attached to it.

A great gout of orange flame spat out from the micro flamer. It swept across the room and quickly consuming everything in liquid promethium. Paper flapped in the air and then vanished into dust along with the rest of the room. The last thing to survive was Armis' journal, before it too could not withstand the inferno and crumbled into ash.

"Now comes a trial by fire. Now we fight the Omnissiah's foes. The Mechanicus of Remnant goes to war."

* * *

Within the arena, Armis stared absentmindedly at the floor. His hands worked stitches into the long wound in his chest, but even the pain could not drive the images from his head, and his hands couldn't stop shaking. The images of his rampage playing across his mind, along with the people's horrified faces. The world knew him now. Not just a few students and teachers. Not just a school or a city. But a whole world. He had never been so compromised. Armis cursed himself for falling straight into the very plot that he had been trying to uncover. Panic had been their objective, and he had given it to them on a silver platter.

'I wonder if the Inquisitor would raze this planet to the ground... or just eliminate me and save himself the trouble.' Armis thought darkly. 'I wonder if Ruby will ever forgive me.'

He heard someone calling his name, he couldn't tell who. Probably a student, but he wasn't paying attention any more. His mind was hazy, blunted and unfocused. It roiled against him distorting his thoughts and filling them with the words of a disturbing voice, oh so familiar to him now.

'Did you really think this would last? Just you and your Ruby, playing together in a school. Trying to relive a lost childhood, away from what you really are.'

Armis gritted his teeth. Each time he heard the thins words it was like nails on a chalk board.

'Shut up.'

'Perhaps you did know, but in your selfishness, wanted to prolong this delusion as long as possible. Doing anything just to delay the inevitable, all for a few moments more of sweet nothings.'

'Quiet daemon! I will not give in to your lies!'

He could hear childish giggling echoing in his skull. The voice twisted and distorted until it was a mockery of his own.

'Oh you poor soul! What makes you think I'm even a daemon? These are just the weak cries of a wounded child, who begs for it all to end. For peace. I am you."

'Shut up! Get out of my head!'

'Well don't waste your chance! Peace finally comes for you.'

True enough, back in reality Armis heard the sound of shattering glass and a blast of air pushed against him. He slid back, instincts kicking in as he rose to his feet. The fresh medical weaving across his chest stretched and through his good eye he saw the Nevermore. His ears strained as it roared at him, but he could still perceive the voice as clear as ever.

'The end approaches. You know the saying. In life, war…

"In death, peace." Armis lips moved on their own.

The Nevermore drew closer, its beak poised to strike. Armis raised his head, but did nothing, accepting his fate. A part of his mind screamed for him to stop, to end this madness. But the rest was pulled along by corrupted strings, like a puppet. The voice was joined by a million others. Those he had killed bayed for blood, their rotting hands clawing for his soul. Those that had died with him, fighting by his side, cried out for death. The rest, the ones who were still of this world, Ozpin and Beacon's teachers, Ruby and Beacon's students, only laughed hysterically at a plan coming to fruition, the torment his existence had on them finally ending with his death. Armis was brought to his knees, his head throbbing, burning inside his own skull. He could barely control his own limbs.

'In life, shame.'

Time seemed to slow as the Nevermore lurched forwards to strike. Armis closed his eyes, the last thing he saw of the Nevermore was its white talons arcing towards him

"In death, atonement."

The force of pressurised air flowed over him and Armis heard the beast scream and roar. The air touching against his skin was not alone, and he felt what he thought were silk leaves brushing past him. The voices disappeared like they had never been there in the first place and Armis smiled.

'Was this what death felt like? Had he been accepted to the Emperor's side and been granted his mercy?'

"Leave him alone!"

That voice immediately snapped him back to his senses and he reopened his eyes.

"Ruby..." Armis said in disbelief, now realising the leaves across his skin were her rose petals.

His Red Reaper stood in front of him now, protecting him. But she was changed. Gone was the naive girl he had first seen in Beacon. Crackling lightning sparked from her and speeding rose petals flowed around her. Her hand was blood covered, formed into a wicked claw. Armis could sense the fury emanating from her, but something else as well.

The Nevermore had recoiled away from them, a wound raking down its front, along with hundreds of other tiny slashes in its skin. Armis could feel it. Feel the psychic power flowing off Ruby, infusing both body and the petals that whirled around her like a cyclone. Each petal had became chargedwith psychic lightning, and as a result, razor edged. The Grimm roared in defiance of Ruby and charged forward with a flap of its wings, but it was short lived as with resounding slams its body was riddled with large boxlike projectiles. The Huntsmen and women's rocket weapon lockers. The students themselves entered the arena to gather their weapons and rally. And this gave Ruby and Armis a moment to themselves.

"Ruby... I... Your-" Armis tried, his mind ablaze with questions.

"No!" Ruby shouted suddenly interrupted him. "I don't care what you've got to say!"

Armis recoiled at this immense hostility that was directed at him. It was close to the killing intent she had shown the Grimm.

"I don't care if you're a human, if you're a mutant, or an abhuman or whatever people call you! I don't care what you've done in the past, or what horrors you've went through. I don't care if you're a psyker, or if you're dangerous to everyone around you!" She then gestured to herself. "I'm a psyker! And I have Aura so that technically makes me a mutant as well! Now I guess I'm dangerous to everyone around me, just like you. I don't care!"

In the background, a few of the students sent each other confused glances, but were soon interrupted when the Grimm began moving again, it's alien mind simply refusing to die. They got to work killing the beast as a team.

Ruby walked up to Armis and reached out with her real hand. The unnatural wind focused on her died down, and the petals came to a stop at their feet.

"All I know is that you're a good person Armis. And as much as we need to have a real long talk about all of this, we really don't have the time right now. We have a job to do." Ruby smiled at him, her face back to its usual self.

Armis was stunned into silence, but he took her hand. But the moment he did so, he felt their two psychic conscience's meet. Ruby's mind was lit up with emotion, untrained and impulsive, and it had reached out to his on untested instinct. But her power was strangely pure, untouched by Chaos' corrupting power. The fortress of Armis' mind quickly hurried to unlock for this shining arrival and the flow of knowledge passed between them. In the span of half a second, brief glimpses of recent events passed between the two of them. Emotion, thoughts, feelings. Pain.

"Oh Oum your eye! How can you even stand it!"

Armis flinched as he was reminded of the wound Seraphim inflicted. His right eye was already itching.

"Oh my Emperor, your everything." Armis attempted to mimic, more to divert attention from his own wounds than anything else. "Mercury did a number on you. You're tougher than you look, and you gave as good as you got."

Ruby's eyes widened and then looked down in shame. She had no idea how to deal with what she had done, if she had even done it. But Armis put a hand on her shoulder.

"It was either him or you. And I can't afford to lose you."

Ruby would have blushed at that, but her mood was too gloomy.

"That's something the Inquisitor told you wasn't it?"

"Yeah..." Armis sighed.

"Does it ever help?"

"Sometimes."

Ruby grabbed one of Armis' hands and pulled them together into a hug, tears welling in her eyes.

"I missed you Armis."

Armis frowned. He felt Ruby's mind once again brushing past against his and emotions once again flowed between them.

"But I've always been here?"

"Not all of you." Ruby sobbed.

Seeing through Ruby's eyes Armis realised how she had felt, seeing him change. Seeing how he grew distant and morbid, ignored her and disappeared in a whim. Ruby in turn felt the guilt crushing Armis' soul and the fury at himself for not seeing it happen. For not doing something about it.

"Errrr lovebirds? Finished with your cuddles?"

There was a flash and the two of them looked up to see the last of the Nevermore disappear, and the small figure of Velvet darting back behind her teammate, Yatsuhashi. The two of them immediately split apart. Coco was brandishing her minigun, but Armis couldn't tell what has bigger, that or her giant knowing grin. A few other huntsmen in training were chuckling alongside her. Now Ruby blushed. Armis growled at them, his many arms flexing and twitching. A few of them flinched, but many just continued smiling, particularly Team's CFVY and JNPR.

"Are we sure about trusting this guy? Didn't he kill that girl from Haven?" One of the Atlas students murmured.

"We're trusting him, because Ruby is trusting him." Pyrrha stated with such certainty it gave no room for doubt.

"Plus Ruby's team met with Justitia before. Back then she was defending a white fang headquarters and was called Seraphim." Velvet added, rather meekly from behind the protective wall of Yatsuhashi's body.

"Yeah plus, she was the one who attacked first. Those are gonna be some wicked scars." One of them tried to joke.

"And a lifetime loss of depth perception." Another said morbidly.

There were numerous murmurs of indecision, but Ruby spoke up.

"It doesn't matter any more. Grimm are definitely going to be attacking soon, and we need every available huntsman and woman to defend the civilians." Ruby turned to the monkey faunus, Sun. "I need to borrow your scroll."

Using his tail, Sun did just that and soon Ruby as armed with her trusty scythe. She looked at Armis, who gestured with his hands showing how unarmed he was at this points. In fact many shards of his swords were scattered across the arena.

"We need to get your eye fixed." Ruby stated, but Armis just shrugged.

"That can be arranged. I have advanced medical supplies in my room. But more importantly there are also numerous items of importance that I need to collect."

"Ok then that's a plan for us." Ruby extended her scythe and pointed towards the evacuation zone. "Ok everyone we need to get to Beacon and repel the Grimm! I'm going to find my team so we'll meet up later."

The students cheered their assent and began moving out. Armis paused briefly to grab his torn cloak and the remaining items within. He spared one last look at Seraphim before following. All the questions he had for her were to be unanswered. He could only hope that the whatever achievements she had accomplished throughout her long life would bring her to the Emperor's side, honouring the armour she wore and the mother who trained her.

As the group reached ran through the Vytal arena's back corridors they reached a junction. Armis nodded to Ruby and the two of them split off from the team's. As they ran, a thought popped into Ruby's mind.

"I forgot to ask, but you do have a plan to get down from here don't you?"

Armis remained silent for a moment before saying: "How are you at dealing with high altitudes?"

Ruby suddenly had flashbacks to Ozpin's idea of initiating beacons students. Launching them off a cliff with a catapult.

"Oh no..." Ruby groaned.

* * *

She was almost there! She knew this area. This was the forest surrounding Beacon, and she could see the clock tower in the imminent distance. With each step, each leap she got closer and closer to her goal. To her friend. To Ruby! She needed to protect her from the bad people. That's what friends did, wasn't it?

She had so far avoided other contact with humans. Or Faunus. She shook her head, it was for the best, she wasn't in the best shape at the moment. But Ruby would understand! She always understood! That's why she was a friend and 'He' was not. She wasn't even sure 'He' was human. Previously she didn't really understand the difference between Faunus and Humans, their were just too many similarities. But 'He' was most definitely different. She wasn't sure what to make of him. Was 'He' even human?

Soon she had had arrived at her destination, inside Beacon Academy grounds. All that was left now was to track Ruby down and save her. There was a lot of activity going on at the moment, people running and screaming, but she ignored that. They weren't in immediate danger. That wasn't important. Finding Ruby, her friend was! Her best friend. Her only friend. Not like 'Him.' After all, she was detecting Atlas personnel in the area so things should be just fine.

Out of nowhere however, while she was on mid leap, a Grimm classified as a Griffon collided with her. Her optics shook and took a moment to refocus. Suddenly she was on the ground, Grimm everywhere. People everywhere as well. Some of them were on the ground. Not moving. She didn't know why they weren't moving. A small human was trying to wake another larger human up.

"Mommy please get up! Please!" The human cried.

It looked around as it heard her stand and approach.

"Please! Please help my mommy!" Came more of its cries as the human ran at her and hugged around her waist.

A brief spark of something worked its way into Penny's programming and she hugged the small girl back, uttering comforting words.

'What was she thinking? This child, these people, they need her help!'

She attempted to start moving, start helping but her limbs were suddenly frozen. On a bandwidth undetectable to a human, something spoke in her earpiece.

'Activating code: Article 349. Hostile designations and threat levels recalibrating.'

Suddenly Penny's programming was gripped by a virus, one she had no idea about, or how it got there. All firewalls and cyber defences were down and she couldn't stop it! She felt a sudden urge to squeeze the thing, no, child in her arms. It was a threat. No! A child! A child wasn't a threat? Was it? She didn't know anymore.

"Hey! Stop it! Your hurting me! Arn't you going to help mommy?"

Penny tried to let the child go, tell her to run, tell her to escape, but she couldn't. She had an urge, a craving, an order to do something horrible, something she couldn't even comprehend. Retreating within herself, she searched for an answer, a cure for this virus infecting her. It quickly dawned on her that the cause was not within her and the source could not be tracked. Even if she could it would be too far away. She was helpless against it.

But suddenly, in the visual manifestation of her programming, she saw a light in the encroaching darkness. Someone had created a backdoor! A way out, a failsafe, a way to stop the virus. And it would do the same for every Atlas robot! She was saved. She quickly blurted binary at it, requesting its aid, asking its name. All it had to do was open and she and her lesser brothers would be free. The only data she received however was a small piece of code designating five letters.

M.A.G.O.S

Why was the light disappearing?

* * *

A silent notification pinged in Magos' brain, signalling the activation of the Queen's virus. He had been keeping track of it ever since it had infiltrated the system from General Ironwood's scroll. At first, he left it alone for a number of reasons. He personally wanted to see how vulnerable Atlas' security software was after he had removed himself from their network. If it were allowed to remain, logically it's creator would communicate to it. With that in mind the practical applications against this threat would be to use the virus to track the creator, sabotage their plans at the last second and therefore disrupt their operations, or return the virus to sender, with a his personal touch of mechanicus scrapcode. Magos had of course planned to do all three and plenty more besides.

But that was before he had read the virus' contents and theorised its overall purpose. Turning the symbol of Atlas' strength, their AI army against them and attacking the Vytal Festival, while it's hosting a tournament meant to represent peace? That would send a powerful message. Whoever had sent it wanted the population to panic, to bring the Grimm and put pressure on all the world governments through fear. But the creators of this virus were underestimating something. Humanity.

Magos could feel the virus activating, weaving its way into every system it could get its corrupting hands on. He was a single microsecond from stopping it. It wouldn't take much. Just the flip of a virtual switch and his countermeasures would purge the whole system, and thousands, perhaps tens of thousands would be saved. Once reclaimed, the AI army would fight the Grimm and with the help of the huntsmen, huntswomen and mortal Atlas personnel drive them out of the city and peace would be restored. An uneasy peace at best, where the perpetrators would slink back into the shadows and begin plotting once again.

Time ticked passed. Second after long second and the virus continued to activate across Vale. Magos' perception having long be altered to process data at speeds that boggled the mind, he recalculated and calculated again. But he remained adamant. This was necessary. Sensors he placed across Beacon picked up the subtleties of screaming and dust bullets piercing through human tissue. Magos ignored them, and finally deactivated the failsafes he had in place, opening the floodgates for the rest of the Abominable Intelligences to fall upon the helpless civilians of Vale. Thousands would die today. And perhaps a thousand more tomorrow. But humanity would learn a painful lesson. The AI were not to be trusted. And by the Emperor would they learn. He would teach them if he had too!

Remnant had always been naive. It lacked the experience the Imperium had gained through brutal trial and error, with every error costing the lives of untold millions. Even the villains of this plot, comforted in the knowledge that their master plan was working, were too naive to see the bigger picture. They had not seen this very same idea played out and realised a hundred times over, xenos and heretical coups, uprisings and rebellions alike on a hundred other worlds. They had not seen what happens when you put humanity against insurmountable odds. Humanity strived under maximum pressure, maximum stress, maximum intensity. It weeded out the weak and allowed the strongest to rise. The legends to lead man to salvation, just as the Emperor had done ten millennia ago. Remnant had just gotten its first taste of planetary betrayal. This conflict would mould the survivors today and Magos would forge them into the diamantine bolt shell they needed to be. All he had to do was wait. That very same fear that this 'Queen' was driving into Remnant, would turn to anger. And that anger into hate. And that hate...

Magos almost chuckled as he opened the door to his Sanctuary, which he had already laced with explosives due to their inevitable departure.

"...will become a useful tool in the hands of someone willing to wield it."

"What was that Magos?" Patient One questioned, following him into the room.

Most of the contents had either been broken down and collected, or turned into useless particles of rust by a carefully placed Ironeater, a ravenous acid that broke down anything that could be used against them. Soon the room would be consumed in fire and ash, but one last piece of machinery remained on the wall.

"Nothing Initiate. Come, you must fulfil one of your duties, aid me in carrying this blessed machine spirit and assist it in fulfilling its own purpose."

"Of course Magos." She nodded.

Servos strained as the bulky thing was taken from the wall, half carried by Magos, the other by Patient One. She had seen weapons and guns before, hell she had been shot by one, but she thanked the Machine God that it wasn't by this one. She had never seen anything like it. It was blocky and crude looking compared to the usual streamlined shifting weapons, just like all of Magos' technology. But it sure as hell looked dangerous. The fact that Magos had to carry the main body of the weapon, while she held a large backpack of ammunition was worrying in itself. She didn't think she would be able to carry it if it wasn't for the cybernetics bracing her back. Everything about the weapon had been kept a secret from her, for now at least as Magos had said. The only thing she knew about it was the weapons unique name. 'F.m.a.'

F.m.a had two main handles, that Magos now gripped firmly in his skeletal hands, as well as numerous other hooks that his mechatendrils could grab hold of for additional control, suggesting high recoil. One on the top of the gun and the other at the back, where a stock would usually be located, suggesting the weapon was hip fired and in turn that the weapon was not meant for pinpoint accuracy. Strange. She had always thought of Magos as a man of logic, precision and efficiency, so would have a weapon befitting of that idea, perhaps something more akin to a sniper rifle.

This backpack of hers connected to the gun through a long belt of silver canisters, each covered in the etchings of a Mechanicus cog. She could not fathom the ammunition. Not armour piecing, not pellets nor standard dust rounds. Perhaps explosive, or some other kind of released payload. But Patient One couldn't be sure. The gun barrel was surely that size to accommodate the large canisters. Several pistons compensators lining the weapon confirmed her theory of the weapons recoil. There even seemed to be a second slot to allow the manual input of additional types of ammunition. She guessed that was why she could feel extra carry weight over her shoulders.

She sighed. 'Magos sure did like to be prepared.'

As they made their way out of the Sanctuary and towards the outside, Magos notified her of a second alarm being triggered, picked up by one of Beacons cameras.

"Now that is curious." Magos mumbled.

"What is?"

"It seems your prayers have been answered, initiate. The White Fang are landing troops nearby."

Patient One tried to contain her emotions, as befitting of a proper techpriest, but couldn't prevent it from twisting her voice.

"Orders?"

"They are in our way, and stand in the path of our duty. We shall act in accordance to how the Mechanicus' teaches us to act, when confronted with hostile entities that impede one of its holy representatives."

Recent studies of the machine cult flowed into her mind and Patient One's teeth gleamed in a sadistic smile.

"Omnissiah be praised."

* * *

"How is that not hurting you?"

Ruby was flinching each time she glanced at Armis. He had removed a portion of his synskin so that he could properly assess his wounds. His wounds had been stitched shut previously and it had begun to heal at a slow pace, not as slowly as a normal person, but not as fast as someone with Aura either. Unfortunately Armis seemed to believe his own expertise with stitching was too patchwork and sloppy. So of course they all had to come out.  
Ruby had even felt one of them tear when they landed on Beacon's roof.

She had no idea how they had survived. Armis had just pulled some sort of backpack from a hidden panel behind a wall and Ruby had immediately fan-girled over how awesome it was to have a jet pack. But Armis had shook his head and told her it was a Grav Chute. She had assumed it was some sort of jet back, parachute hybrid. How wrong she had been. The fear that gripped her while they were falling faster and faster towards the ground when Armis said there was no parachute. But somehow their descent had been slowed enough for them to land relatively safely.

"It probably is. I just can't feel it." He gestured to a empty syringe in the medikit. "Tranq."

He continued to stitching, while Ruby frowned and looked nervously at Armis.

"I thought you promised not to use any combat drugs..."

"Tranq isn't a combat drug and my body can filter out any of the negligible side effects." Armis comforted her. "This particular version is specifically for my own medical purposes, it simply numbs pain. Actually I've been told that many people in the Imperium use tranq as an alternative to alcohol, although i've been told it's an acquired taste."

Ruby looked up at him.

"You swear?"

Armis had finished removing his previous stitches and was now reworking them to better seal his wound. A pair of his hands was securing bandages over his right eye, while another two of his hands were held over his heart and Armis made the sign of the Aquila.

"I swear on my life, and that of the Golden Throne."

"Good enough."

A minute or so passed and Ruby watched curiously as Armis worked. He didn't seem to even look at what he was doing while he worked, and his hands never caught on one another. The level of multitasking was incredible. He stitched his cuts, reset his broken fingers, bandaged his eye, all at the same time while still keeping the kit he took everything from neat and organised. Finally, as a finishing touch, Armis sprayed synskin over any exposed skin on his chest and on any bandages, even blackening one side of his face. An extra layer of protection and a way of reducing any light or reflective surfaces.

Finished, Armis stood up and practiced a few stretches. Everything held although they perhaps would need a while before they could be removed. Ruby didn't know what would happen to his eye, but Armis didn't seem to be worried about it. Perhaps Magos could do something about it.

"Do you have anything in their to help bruises?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, but why? Was one of your teammates hurt?"

"No they're not, or at least I don't think so. I hope not, but no, not for them, for-" Ruby looked down at herself, her clothes cut up and stained. "What the..."

She had expected to be aching all over after the adrenaline wore off, with bruises all over her body. Armis was right, Mercury had beaten her to a pulp, but all of her injuries had just disappeared, like they hadn't even been there. Armis saw her looking confused.

"Your aura recharges fast. It must be quite useful."  
he commented nonchalantly.

"Yeah..." Ruby replied, unsure.

"We can set off soon, give me a moment to gather more of my equipment." Armis began rummaging through his equipment cache.

"Sure."

Ruby walked around the room, pacing and checking her skin for any sort of blemish. She came to a stop by the window. Her aura had been broken, she had felt it happen as well as a number of broken bones snapping and skin tearing. But now they were gone and her aura was back. She didn't think her could return so fast. She knew her aura didn't return that fast! Was it because of-

"Ruuuuuubbbbbyyyy!" Came a strange shouting voice getting louder as it got closer.

The girl in question looked up too late as the window and a good chunk of the wall caved in, glass and stone filling the room and bouncing off her new aura. Ruby rocketed backwards and came to a stop in her back. In the time she took to realise she was on the floor, something was on top of her and a vice like grip was around her throat. She choked and tried to kick her assailant off and got a look at them as her mechanical claw cut across their face. Penny. But not the friendly if eccentric girl, Ruby remembered her to be.

Her eyes were glowing red and her face was twisted into a gleeful smile. Her orange hair and a good portion of her face was covered in more red, and due to recent experience, Ruby recognised it as blood. It was dripping down her chin into her dress, and now droplets pattered against her face. There were three rents running from her right cheek to her chin, where Ruby's bionic had breached her artificial aura.

"Ruby! Ruby! Kill Ruby!" Penny screamed and repeated.

One hand still increasing the pressure round her victim's neck, her other grabbed Ruby's bionic and locked it to the floor, preventing any effective struggle.

"Penny..." Ruby was able to get out through her constricted throat. "Why..?"

Ruby! Kill Ruby! Kill-"

Just as Ruby began to lose consciousness, something wrapped around Penny and yanked her back. Ruby started to cough immediately and quickly tried to get to her feet. She was only able to sit up, propping herself on the nearby wall. She screamed and scrambled as far back as she could go as one of Penny's arms scraped across the floor, almost grabbing her leg.

"Ruby! Kill! Ruby! Kill!"

Ruby looked up to see Armis hauling the robot girl from the floor, keeping her on her knees with a well placed kick. His razor wire was wrapped all around her, and he was wrestling to keep her from escaping his trap. The wire was already cutting off her skin, revealing the metal exterior beneath.

"Penny stop! What's happening to you?!" Ruby shouted, her voice still weak.

"Kill. Ruby. Kill Ruby!" Was the only reply she got from the AI.

"This is what always happens." Armis spoke up, placing a foot on Penny's back and beginning to pull back on the wires.

Ruby could hear the sound of metal bending and straining. Penny was slowly breaking and soon she would be torn apart.

"Armis stop! Don't kill her! Something must be wrong, Penny would never do something like this!" Ruby cried out, getting up and trying to free Penny.

The moment she got close Penny threw herself harder at the wires, only seeing Ruby, her new programming demanding she be slain. Ruby jumped back and kept her distance.

"Penny no! You'll die! Stop it!" Tears were streaming down her face.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Ruby. I'm no longer pushing her forward. This is her doing." Armis told her.

True enough, Armis was only holding the wire steady. It was Penny's relentless pursuit of the prey in front of her, that continued to damage the AI's body.

"Please Armis! Let her go! Surely there's another way!" Ruby cried.

"They look human, they act human." Armis looked at Ruby, not with a expression of hatred, but one of sorrow. Empathy. "They were your friend, your brother or your father. They loved you."

Ruby felt a presence touching the boundaries of her mind. She at first she flinched away, unused to the feeling. But she quickly recognised it was Armis, and allowed him in. Memories passed to her, and her horror only deepened. She saw people walking together in a packed market place. They wore strange clothes and sold strange products, but all seemed happy. But all of a sudden a scream rung out and Ruby saw a woman being impaled through the leg and arm by a young child. arms had torn open to reveal deadly curved swords in place of his hands. He had previously been holding the women's hand. At once dozens more of its ilk appeared slaughtering everyone in their path. The scenes changed to another place, hours later. It showed buildings destroyed and bodies everywhere. Figures half flesh half machine wandered the broken streets, cutting up bodies and dragging others away.

"But they aren't really. Replace by some twisted copy of them. Even when discovered many are fooled by the face of their friend. But it's all false."

More memories flowed into her and these scenes were replayed across more places, more planets. Robots, machines and AI, all in different shapes and sizes. Humanoids exactly like them hiding among the population. Monstrous blends of humanoid and machine, corrupted and bloodcrazed, attacking anything breathing. AI networks that turned technology against people in horrific ways. Just a few seconds since the memories started, they stopped and Ruby was brought to her knees. She couldn't see much through her tear filled eyes, but looked up to see Penny's contorted face, one last time, mere centimetres from her own.

"Ruby! Ruby! Ruby! Ru-"

With a final push Penny's hand seemed to free itself from the wire. And then her head did the same and her body. But for the fraction of a second she was released, the AI known as P.E.N.N.Y split apart. Her arm cut down the middle horizontally between her fingers and then the half arm separated from her shoulder. Her body split in half from the hip and its legs and waist became free of each other in several places. Finally, the head was severed and with a hollow clung Penny's head hit the floor, rolling to face Ruby.

The red glow from before flickered and was replaced with her usual led green one, of only for a while. As she looked up at the crying girl above her, Penny's lips moved one last time.

"Thank you..."

"Penny!" Ruby cried out, her voice echoing across through the halls, as the last remnants of light disappeared from her friends eyes.

* * *

 ** _So marks the end of P.E.N.N.Y. So marks the beginning of the end for Beacon. Armis seems to have snapped out of his trance due to Ruby's influence, and has also found out about her psychic nature. The Grimm are breaking past every defence, in Beacon, in Vale and the Vytal Arena. But now their destruction is aided in the turning of the Atlas AI and the vengeful White Fang. Magos allowed the AI to be infected with the virus, but now he goes with Patient Zero to stop the other threat. Patient Zero has an old grudge to settle. What more horrors will the night entail? What shall the day bring in its place?_**

 ** _Reviews and criticisms are welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


	22. Chapter 22

_**Broken Branches**_

 _ **Previously in Broken Branches: Cinder had made her speech and Chaos now reigns. Ruby struggles to keep everyone together, including Armis and her own inner daemons. The White Fang have arrived and Magos has allowed the AI virus to cause all of Atlas robots to rampage across Vale. P.E.N.N.Y has met her end at Armis' hands. Magos and Patient One are gearing up for war and all of Beacon seems to be joining them. The Battle for Beacon has begun. But what will be the cost? And can Remnant afford to pay it?**_

 ** _Emperor KingPerby: Never stopping, only slowing. Slow and Purposeful._**

 ** _RaptorusMaximus: Haha goooood my story is successfully infiltrated your emotions and plucked at your mortal heart strings. This is what i live for!_**

 ** _guardsman642: Emperor and Omnissiah be praised! Magos' plans have only just begun!_**

 ** _Artyom-Dreizehn- A.I are good. Unfortunately they are too good. Heretically good. And therefore they must be destroyed for the good of humanity._**

 ** _Ultimax999: Sometimes, fate cannot be twisted. Unfortunately the Omnissiah does not bless soulless existence's like Abominable Intelligences. But we can only hope taht she is forgiven for her trespasses. Magos does have servants. They're called Armis and Patient One..._**

 ** _Potato man the semi omnipotent: Yes. Yes she is... Fate sometimes cannot be changed. Promethium doesn't usually leave much of a trace... but maybe..._**

 ** _Zero: Virus' aren't tech heresy. They are tech. They are useful tools to be used against the enemies of mankind. Tech priests most certainly care about AI, its in one of their religions main commandments to eliminate AI as soulless existence's, machines without a spirit. A few tech priests may have hated the emperor's decrees, but that was mainly during the horus heresy. Those who study AI now are either dark mechanicum or tech heretics. Magos is a very real techpriest. He just has very radical beliefs that led to his... less than peaceful flight from Stygies VIII. And that world is know for its radical techpriests._**

 ** _Nemris: Magos technically has good intentions. Serephim actually did win in the tournament, she just wanted to continue fighting._**

 ** _Galahad: No, Armis is not. One does show up in later chapters however._**

 _ **'Thoughts'**_

 _ **"Speech"**_

 _ **I own neither RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.**_

* * *

Penny had been her friend. She hadn't deserved this. Something wasn't right, this wasn't right! Surely this was a dream? One of her visions. It had all the hallmarks of one. Terrifying, unbelievable, the surreal feeling of it. And Armis. Armis was always there. But she knew in her heart that it real. Penny was gone. Armis killed her. She didn't blame him. She had experienced Armis' feelings for her and his feelings on 'Abominable Intelligences' first hand. For him, this was the most sensible thing to do, and a part of her agreed. If he hadn't been there Penny would have killed her. Perhaps Armis' way of thinking was influencing her, but it didn't make it any less true.

The rest of her mind however, the young emotion part was screaming at her. Sorrow, guilt, grief and most prominently anger filled her head. The question repeating again and again through her head asked; who was to blame for this? It would be so easy to blame Armis.

'It is not his fault.' A voice told her, she recognised it from her dreams after she had been knocked unconscious by Mercury. 'He protected you. Just as he promised.'

'I know...' Ruby thought back. 'But it hurts so much.'

Tears were pouring down her face. She vaguely recognised Armis' footfalls approaching her. She looked up at him, with such a powerful expression. Armis just couldn't tell what the expression was. Fury, sadness, something in between? He put a hand on her shoulder, kneeling down to her level.

"We need to get moving. If you want to find your team, and those responsible, it would be best to split up."

"I... I..." Ruby sobbed, but her emotions got the better of her.

She pushed off his hand and rushed to the door. She felt her bionic crush the doorknob unintentionally and she slammed the door so hard that the frame shook and cracked. Armis hadn't followed her out the door, and a part of her was relieved for that. The other parts didn't know what to think. She turned right, out into Beacon's hallways empty of all the usual inhabitants. She rushed outside, more and more petals marking her passage as she ran faster and faster. Ruby couldn't tell where she was running, but soon she reached the exit and collapsed into tears in the cool night.

She could barely see, everything slightly blurry, but she saw black figures darting left and right around her. She wiped her eyes with her right sleeve but only felt the cold sting of metal. Frustrated she used her other arm, but just as she looked up a giant Ursa Major slammed into her. It's bony spikes and scales bent her aura, but it held steady, the attack served less to injure her, and more to knock the sense back into her.

'It's not Armis' fault.' Her own voice, but at the same time, not her voice told her. 'But Emperor forgive us for what we will do to the person responsible."

"Cinder..." Ruby growled through gritted teeth, standing and whipping her scythe to full extension.

The Ursa roared at her and charged again. It was backed up by more than a dozenother lesser Grimm.  
"RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA!" Ruby screamed back in absolute fury, cutting the beast in half from gullet to groin, and proceeding to slaughter everything that got in her way.

* * *

Sixteen steps. As Armis had listened with his head pressed against his door, that's how many steps Ruby took, before it returned. The daemon.

'Good riddance. Annoying mutts like her that yip at our heels, should know their place and keep their distance. We should have killed her when we had the cha-" It tried to say, before choking.

An avalanche of willpower and fury crashed down upon the voice within Armis' head, a dozen hands throttling it within the mental plane of his mind.

"You will not speak ill of Ruby Rose while in my presence, and you are no longer permitted to talk freely within my mind. I will tolerate your cursed voice no longer!" Armis roared into the empty room. "Begone daemon! Get out of my head!"

A invisible blast of psychic energy pulsed through the room, kicking up dust. Penny's broken body parts rolled back and forth before coming back to rest. Silence filled the room and Armis shook his head, focusing his mind once again. The daemon was banished for now. It would return when he had next used his psychic gift, but he would postpone that as long as possible. He had a job to do.

Ruby was gone but she would likely fulfil one of their goals. Either she would find her comrades, or she would find the perpetrator of this disaster and punish them. Now he had to do the same. Arming up on a number of weapons and armaments, as well as a fresh camoline cloak, Armis headed out, turning left out the door.

"Magos." He called out to the communications device he had procured from his cache of gear. "What is your location? The location of Beacon Huntress teams would also be advantageous to know."

There was nothing but static for a few moments, before the device blurted a quick phrase of Techna Lingua.

"The courtyard, understood." He replied, a cogitators close by his ears giving him a basic translation. "Heading to location via Beacons dining hall. Will meet with you shortly."

* * *

The courtyard was in an absolute mess. Grimm, Atlas robots and paladins wrecked havoc on the stone work as they attempted to crush anything in their path. The Huntsmen and women from across Remnant were battling it out, trying to protect anything they could. Civilians, the academy, each other. Anything they could do to help, they did. But there was a dark thought in the back of everyone's minds. That they couldn't be everywhere at once. They were barely fending off the Grimm here, so what exactly was happening in Vale?

Weiss took a quick moment of respite to regain whatever strength she could. Today was just full of surprises. Atlas robots turning on them, the White Fang appearing and then the Grimm. It was like someone had seen their previous fights in the time they had been at Beacon and decided that it would be cool to see them fight all three at the same time. But not all the surprises were bad. She had no idea how strong or fast Nora actually was. She fought like a girl possessed, nothing like her time in the arena. There was no jokes, giggles or reckless decisions. There was only absolute focus and her hammer. It had already made short work of a paladin that dared to try and attack Ren.

Unfortunately however there were just too many, and one by one they were being beaten back. That was until Velvet finally joined the fray. Weiss had always held misgivings for the rabbit Faunus, that had remained even after she had spent more time with Blake. She had been shy, anti-social and perhaps even cowardly, not really showing any sort of character that Weiss had been brought up to believe a huntress should exemplify. Coco had her hang back and watch from the sidelines, so she hadn't ever seen her fight. Until now. Traced with blue light, she had drawn a scythe from nowhere, recognisably Ruby's Crescent Rose. Against two paladins she fought as hard as two huntsman teams, switching between weapons, their weapons, in the blink of an eye. Protecting herself with Weiss' Myrtenaster, shooting fiery blue missiles with Yang's Ember Celica, tying the paladins down with Blake's Gambol Shroud. Coco's minigun, Sun's bowstaff, Nora's hammer and finally Penny's floating swords. She used them all destroying one paladin utterly. However she was only able to maim the second one, and while she recovered from such a intense use of Aura, the paladin's fist connected, sending her flying and tumbling across the courtyard.

Her teammates tried to cover her but the paladin only advanced through the hail of bullets, attempting to finish her off. Weiss felt guilt and shame course through her mind. She had unconsciously been putting someone down, who she knew nothing about. All the times she had sat idle while Velvet had been bullied flashed through her memories and that infuriated her. She hated herself for being such a person and hated this paladin even more for daring to attack one of her friends! As she sprinted across white glyphs she laid across the ground Weiss felt something unlock within her and another glyph floated behind her back. Reaching Velvet in time and raising her rapier in an attempt to protect her, Weiss heard the paladin's arm connect with something else entirely. A ghostly arm holding a large ice sword had appeared from the glyph and without much prompting pushed the machine back. Weiss recognised this arm. It was the metal golem her father had tested her against. Now, it was hers. With a flick of her wrist, the giant responded and with the rending of metal, cut the paladin in half.

The battleground finally silent, Weiss tried to relax. But the moment she looked up to Velvet to check on her, the Faunus had already snapped a picture of her, smiling. Weiss sighed and smiled back. If she had the strength to smile then she was fine. Suddenly, dread gripped her heart as the ground began to rumble. The thundering steps of another mech echoed across the courtyard, but this one was even bigger than the paladins they had previously faced. Weiss had no idea what type of model it was, and if she didn't know she doubted anyone else did.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Came Sun's satirical voice, but it didn't alleviate the situation.

They were all exhausted from fighting this mech's younger cousins. They had no idea what this thing was capable of. Coco approached Weiss and Velvet.

"Got another one of whatever that was?" She pointed at the rapidly disappearing golem arm.

Weiss shook her head. That was everything she had. She wasn't even sure she could do it again if she was at full power. Once again it came down to Velvet.

"I think I have one more trick up my sleeve..."

She walked to the centre of the courtyard, facing down this new opponent. The mech's eyes flashed red and it started barreling towards them, kicking up fragments of stone with each lumbering step. Velvet focused her aura into her camera. The picture of Weiss hadn't had time to process yet, so that was off the table. But she had one last picture that she could use. Blue light extended out from her back, tracing along the air to form ten extra arms that mimicked the movements of Velvets normal hands.

Weiss quickly drew her own conclusions.

"How in the world were you able to get a picture of Armis?!" She exclaimed.

Coco smirked.

"Wasn't easy. He fought us for it, almost destroyed Velvets camera. But it was Ruby who saved us."

Velvet felt power coursing through her veins, up Armis' arms. No! Her arms! The world twisted around them and she saw the other side of the world. The warp, the Immaterium, the void. And it looked back.

'How could Armis keep such power to himself? He could have done some much! There is such raw and undiluted energy here, unrestrained power just waiting to be tapped into. He could have destroyed the Grimm! Destroyed the White Fang and everything Remnant faced!'

Velvet felt this force building inside her, just waiting to be unleashed. She needed more, and so she drew in more. Visions flew through her head. After this she needed to get more pictures of Armis! She would use this power again to help her team. No, she could even become team leader! Or even the head of Beacon Academy!

"Velvet! It's coming!" She heard a voice beside her, but she couldn't tell who said it.

'Yes, she would prove herself. Prove she had the strength to lead!'

Velvet raised her hands and head, seeing the machine baring down on her. The power bubbled and shook within her until it burst out from all of her arms. An invisible beam exploded forwards, invisible except to her. Almost in slow motion the giant machine stopped in mid air, its equivalent of a face twitching and sparking until suddenly it collapsed on itself, folding and splitting. Soon the ragged hole of metal and cables opening in its chest covered more of its body then not. It's legs sparked and collapsed, with no directive or power to guide them. It's arms slumped and fell from a body that couldn't even hold its own weight. All that was left was broken parts.

Velvet lowered her arms, but they remained floating there. Strangely they began wrapping themselves around her own arms, like a sort of protective sleeve. She turned to see the smiling faces of her friends. Now they saw her for what she truly was. A warrior! A hero! She looked at the blue arms, and they moved as she did. With this power she would be the hero of Vale, or even the hero of Remnant and everyone would soon be looking up to her. She would finally be able to look down on the bullies like Cardin Winchester and all those who hated the Faunus.

Her mind suddenly screamed at her to stop drawing power from this void. A part of her mind was repulsed by these feelings flowing through her brain.

'Why should she not? How could she not?This is that power that will allow her to take over the position of headmaster at Beacon. And she would need even more power to become the hero that would lead Remnant to victory!'

Velvets head suddenly started to pulse, a headache building in her mind. Her thoughts were being twisted and pulled at like the strings of a puppet.

'Wait, when did she want to be headmaster? She didn't want ultimate power, she just wanted equality for both humans and Faunus. Having such power was a contradiction.'

The energy passing into her was starting to become too much to handle, and she tried to stop it from overwhelming her. But it was like she was a child, trying to stop an adult from feeding her. She was full! She didn't need any more! It was too much! In the physical world, her friends faces changed to confusion and concern.

The blue outlines covering her arm started to heat up, ethereal flames licking her skin painfully. She tried to pat them down with her hands but she couldn't even touch her own skin, the constructs of her own making blocking her. All she achieved was scorching her own fingers, the smell of burning flesh reaching her nostrils. Velvet fell to the floor and starting to flail around, the pain becoming unbearable. Her skin blackened and burnt through to the bone, yet her arms remained relatively intact. Nerves that should have died, still registered the unimaginable pain of burning alive. Even her mind betrayed her, refusing to fall into unconsciousness. The torturous experience continued, while her friends shouted for her and tried to get close enough to help her. But she couldn't hear anything.

All she could hear was laughter.

* * *

"Hmmm... I think we've used all the buttons by now." Roman torchwick stated, pretty much to himself at this point, any attempt to get Neo to react other than a crooked smile ending in miserable failure. "Guess we just wait for the boss lady to call us."

He swivelled round in the Atlas Carriers command chair, stopping himself on the control console, propping up his feet. Neo, the girl with differing hair and eye colours nodded, but remained standing. She hadn't gotten out of a Atlas uniform she found. Why she remained like that only she could say. Or not for that matter.

The constant explosions below them on ground level had long since ceased to amuse her. Neo was bored, and that was something Roman tried to avoid at all times. Things usually ended up dead when Neo was bored.

"How about we play a game?" He suggested, to her bemusement. "Staring competition go."

Neo immediately turned her attention to him, and for a few seconds there was silence within the carrier. It was short lived. Neo won by repeatedly changing her eye colour so Roman kept getting distracted.

"You're no fun." He mockingly huffed and sulked in his chair.

Neo smiled at him, and Roman smirked. He knew he would never win against Neo, but it was just a game. And that was the point. Everything was a game to her.

The AI rampaging across Vale and Beacon were like ants and the people even smaller, weaker ants. Neo just liked to watch how the particularly stubborn ants acted. But that was just Roman's opinion. He had no idea what was going through that crazy kids head. Could be flowers and rainbows for all he knew, or cared. She followed her orders and did a damn good job doing them. Roman guessed she was a little annoyed at not being allowed to go down there and fight herself.

Suddenly their carrier was rocked by a series of explosions, and Roman almost fell off his chair.

"Speak of the devil..." He mumbled, quickly getting his bearings and checking a number of blinking consoles.

It appeared that they were under attack. Outside, streaking past them was a trio of flying vessels, each just a bit bigger than a bullhead. But that was where the similarities ended. Jet black against the night sky, they appeared to use a more angular design as opposed to standard bulkheads. A silvery logo depicting a two headed eagle was emblazoned on each wing. All of them were armed to the teeth, but seemed to differ in weapon configurations. The two that had just strafed them had launched underslung rockets from circular pods beneath the wings, combined with an added salvo of white-blue laser fire from their dorsal guns. These two were now coming round for another pass. The other lacked the rocket pods but was never the less armed with an long-barrelled cannon in place of the laser, steadily blazing away at them. It was slowing down, until it came to hover above the carrier.

Roman switched to the deck bound cameras, just in time to see a man jump out of its passenger bay. The image was blurry, so he couldn't make out much, but he seemed to wearing some sort of light plate armour, jet black, just like the vehicle which he exited. It took off in short order, as a number of Grimm circled around them. It engaged them with extreme prejudice, keeping their companion covered from aerial assault.

"We have company it seems." He nodded to Neo.

She only smiled back and took out her umbrella. This would be a joy for her, boredom finally relieved, but Roman was beginning to worry.

'Who were these guys? I've not seen anything like them in any of the stolen Atlas files.' Roman thought, idly chewing his glove as the two of them ascended to meet their singular boarder. 'They had to be Atlas though right? Reinforcements from some sort of off the books black ops group?'

"If it's Atlas then we know how to deal with their type, don't we Neo." He chuckled as they reached the top deck, wind hitting their faces.

The small girl smiled and nodded at him, teeth exposed and a wicked grin on her face. They took out their weapons of choice, a red and white cane and a pink parasol.

The figure was approaching them but didn't seem to be in any sort of rush. His armour seemed pretty basic, beyond the fact that it appeared heavy for its size. His footsteps echoed down the deck, despite the wind. Neo picked up what sounded like pistons moving underneath the armour, but she didn't think anything more of it. Carried in a relaxed, but nevertheless ready grip, he held a massive shotgun. Roman would have said it was personalised, except just like everything else, it was bare of emblems, its body made up of black metal and slightly less blackened metal. That was strange as most huntsmen, even Atlas marked their weaponry with some sort of personalisation. However, despite the weapons size, there was no dust focusing crystals or even gun barrels anywhere to be found. The guns business end was just a large flat block.

The two's eyes began picking up more details in their opponent's bare face. He wore no helmet, but what was revealed was not face of inexperience. Young though he seemed, perhaps in his early twenties or late teens, his expression was stoic, focused on the two of them. His skin was tanned, but blemished by light scarring that dotting his chin and right brow, as well as minor burn marks along the side of his neck. His head was shaven to a thin buzz cut, bar the organised mohawk that ran down the middle of his head.

Roman was taking this all in with glee. Professional, government, uniform. Predictable. It took a few seconds more for them to come to a stop just a bit more than three metres.

"Why hello there my friend!" Roman bowed in a way as polite as it was mocking. "What brings you all the way from Atlas to my humble ship on such a lovely day?"

No reply. He seemed to reach for something on his gun, and with a loud click, three gigantic barrels extended vertically outwards along the once empty space at the weapons end.

"Surely a soldier of the Atlas military wouldn't shoot unarmed civilians?" Roman mocked fright, holding up his cane, Neo following his lead. "What could you possible want from two lost tourists?"

There was no reply from the man, who simply stood there, his head turning from Roman, to Neo, who only tilted her head and smiled as usual. With a blink, her eye colours switched and then back again. That finally got a reaction from him. But not the one they expected.

"One." He stated, voice deep, like gravel scraping on concrete.

In the literal blink of an eye his gun was up, and with a flash of blinding light one of the barrels unleashed its payload directly at Neo. Caught off guard, but reactions as sharp as ever, she was able to open and raise her parasol. The bullet exploded a moment before it hit, and Neo was barraged by heated shrapnel. Her feet skidded several metres back along the deck.

Roman, his face in shock, put his hands up in surrender, beginning to bend his knee to kneel, but just before he reached the floor, he sprung forwards, raising his cane. His attack was short lived, a gauntleted hand suddenly clasped around Roman's throat. He got in one swing of his cane, aiming at the man's head, but it was deflected against a shoulder plate. The career criminal was raised up and quickly slammed straight down, his aura denting the metal floor. Dazed, Roman tried to blink the stars away before he was brought back to his senses by the sight of a armoured boot covering his vision. With a crash, his aura was able to protect him from everything but unconsciousness and the fact that his head was now shunted half a metre into the decking.

Neo was now attacking, her parasol retracted to its original form. A long sharp stake darted out half a dozen times. Most of the strikes were deflected by a equally quick parry of the man's weapon or his gauntlet, black paint scraping away to reveal silvery metal beneath. The final strike however, struck right where his heart would be. The armour held and the point grazed upwards across the armour's chest-plate. He tilted his head, but still a red line opened up across his skin, from his chin to his left ear. Growling, he grabbed a hold of the parasol's fabric and hoisted it into the air, taking her along with it. She seemed to float above him for a moment, perfectly vertical, each connected together by a grip on Neo's weapon.

"Two." He said, jamming the centre barrel into her face, Neo's eyes going cross eyed for a moment.

Wth another boom of noise and light, Neo disappeared with the shattering of glass. The man's eyes widened as it all came clattering down around him, pinging off his armour and cutting his exposed face. He felt a searing pain in his left leg and grunted. Neo was below him, a stake piercing into the joint behind his knee, still smiling sadistically. She retracted the now bloody point, but quickly had to dodge a giant armoured leg sweeping above her. He was using the wounded leg as a weapon, keeping balance with the other. She backflipped as it crashed down into the deck to crush her.

Neo was close to the edge of the deck by now, but as she recovered and sought to return to the fight, she recognised the sounds of a frag grenade bouncing and rolling towards her. Once again her parasol flipped back up as a protective shield, but it wasn't quiet enough. A few more steps back and she was at the precipice. She put her arms out for balance, wind howling in her ear, messing with her hair. By some miracle she kept her footing and recovered, but her opponent wasn't giving her any more respite. The gun was pointed at her again, the last barrel ready below its smoking siblings. The armoured man's face was contorted in pain, his eyes filled with fury and he seemed to be limping. Neo readied herself. She couldn't block another attack otherwise she would be knocked off the ship. Nor could she use her semblance so soon. But she had some advantages. Her opponent was enraged and wounded, he wouldn't be thinking straight. And he would make the one mistake that would give her the signal to dodge.

There was silence between them for a millisecond, except for the roars of the wind and the Grimm. Neo grinned at her opposite, winking at him mockingly.

"Three!" He roared.

Neo hear the sound of the trigger clicking, but she wouldn't wait for the gun to fire. She had sprung right as quickly as possible. A millisecond passed. And another. And another. But there was no sound, no explosion. It was realisation that hit Neo first. Now it was her opponent who was smiling, the pain and rage from before nowhere to be found. Neo was mid jump, no time to stop, no time to redirect and no time to change direction. He had tricked her! Finally, the last barrel unleashing its power, Neo felt the shell impact her chest, aura splitting and breaking in its wake. She span through the air, momentum taking her off the deck and plummeting towards the swirling Grimm and then the ground.

The man rolled his neck and shoulders, lowering his weapon and running a cold metal hand across his face. The red blood that he saw across his gauntlet got him to grunt in frustration.

"Damn mutants..." He started to walk back towards the unconscious Torchwick, pressing a finger against his year. "This is the Castellan. Mission accomplished. I require valkyrie transport for the prisoner."

"By your word Castellan Jacob."

Immediately the valkyrie broke off from its two cousins and landed close by. The now-named Jacob gripped Roman's white coat by the collar and hauled him out of the wreckage. As he approached the transport, two black clad soldiers saluted him.

"Further orders sir?" One of them asked.

"Secure this prisoner, have him ready for transport back to the Vacuo base. Then instruct Vendetta's one and two to destroy this ship."

"Yes sir!" The soldier saluted again and took the body out of Jacob's hands.

"And me sir?" The other asked, the badge of a pilot flashing in the moonlight.

The Castellan got aboard the Valkyrie, the ship shifting a bit to accommodate his weight.

"Take me to Vale. My wife is waiting."

* * *

It happened in a flash. This glorified brawler was no match for him. His blade was charged and ready, while his opponent was unfocused and emotionally compromised. It had only taken a second for Adam to sever the girl's arm from her body. Now she lay bleeding across the floor, her yellow aura flaking off her body, attempting to heal something it couldn't possibly hope to fixl. Blake Belladona, his love, screamed in horror, behind him.

As he approached the fallen girl, Blake threw herself in front of his prey.

"Why must you hurt me Blake?"

Adam tired of her. She had doubted him, disobeyed him, betrayed him. And now she showed concern for a filthy human of all things. She was unworthy. Adam turned and drew his sword again. He would end it quickly, she had served her well in the past and she was a Faunus. In an instant, his red sword had parted her head from her body, but Blake only dissolved into black particles. A shadow clone. Adam growled and heard the sound of feet pattering and dragging across the ground. In his distraction, Blake had grabbed the one armed girl, Yang Xiao Long he believed her name was, and scurried out of the hall.

He truly contemplated pursuing them, but he was broken out of his thoughts by a Grimm charging him from behind. It must have snuck in through one of the broken windows in the hall. He was readying himself for a precise single strike to dispatch it, when a huge bang suddenly filled the hall. The Grimm collapsed, its head disintegrating into nothing but a bloody stump, a second before its body followed suit. Adam tilted him head and retracted his sword.

"While I've never seen eye with her, that girl you just maimed, was the sister of a dear friend of mine."

The sounds of footfalls echoed after the explosion, and Adam saw a large cloaked figure walk into the open, a single red eye peering from beneath it.

"Armis. A monster created by human cruelty, toying and defiling nature as always. Such arrogance." Adam readied his blade at his side, but did not draw it. "I'll kill you myself."

"Funny." Armis' cloak parted, and half a dozen blades extended out from him. "That's exactly what I was going to say."

* * *

"This whole time...

Amber was dead. He had heard her and Pyrrha scream, her last moments a living hell as he tipped her aura, her very soul from her body. All because of his half-cocked plan to transfer it into the right hands. A plan that failed miserably. Ozpin's eyes, dead and glazed over, looked down into his coffee cup. There was barely anything left, swirling around at the bottom.

"Right beneath our feet..."

He had failed. Everything he had built, everything he had worked towards had been shattered. Now all he could do was cut his losses. He had already been able to get Jaune and Pyrrha to flee. Now all he needed to do was escape and he could rebuild in another kingdom. Many had called him a coward throughout his lifetime. He had always been the cold and calculating type in his youth. He did not do things to help people. Ozpin did things to help his cause, the orders cause. To help humanity against the Grimm.

"She was right about you..."

Something clicked in Ozpin's mind as he finally paid attention to what the false Fall Maiden was saying. He flipped his trusty cane about, and gripped it till his knuckles went white. He could escape. There was perhaps the slightest chance that he could flee.

"Such arrogance."

Arrogant. They had called him that as well. It made him smile sadly, remembering the old times. The very old times. Before the voices. Before the daemons. It seemed that his opponent noticed his expression.

"Why are you smiling? Can you not see we have won? The queen has finally beaten you!"

Ozpin once again looked down at his trusty coffee cup. Yes, he could escape. But not today.

"I've had this cup for a very long time now, year/ upon years. A friend gave it to me, a poorly made cup, so fragile that it would surely break if its owner had even the slightest temper."

"Or perhaps you're just delusional." Cinder's eyebrow raised.

"I promised her that I would always remain calm. Collected and kind. Remain strong against the horrors that tear against the veil and never draw too much from the warp's cursed well." Ozpin ringed his fingers through the cups handle and around its flaking curved surface. "It's kept me sane all these years, never losing myself, never giving in."

Cracks began forming across the mug and pieces of ceramic clattered to the floor one after the other. Green flickers of lightning began to radiate out from Ozpin's eyes, playing across his face and his hair. Cinder noticed immediately and fire began to circle around her like a protective shield. The reflective surface of the floor became marred and distorted as lightning and fire sparked and burnt across it and an unnatural wind blew fragments of stone and ceramic through the halls.

"It is finally time for the mantle to pass over. No longer can I serve the order. No longer can I protect my students. No longer can I help humanity defeat the Grimm. And finally..."

With a crack of thunder, Ozpin's cup shattered, his hands crushing whatever was left into dust.

"I can no longer keep that promise."

In a flash of green lightning and orange flames, the two psychically powered hunters clashed.

* * *

 ** _Ruby and Armis have split up once again, aiming to find their missing comrades and put an end to this madness. High in the air, the Atlas Carrier hijacked by Roman Torchwick has been boarded and taken over by an unknown force, the criminal himself captured. Velvets use of Armis' psychic powers have proven to be much more dangerous than they first seemed and she has been overwhelmed by the backlash. Adam has crippled Yang and now faces a vengeful Armis. Cinder has killed Amber and taken the powers of the Fall Maiden for herself, but now faces an enraged Ozpin. Doom has come to Beacon and no one will be left unscathed._**

 ** _Reviews and criticisms are welcome._**

 ** _Signed by Imperial Decree_**

 ** _BluePanedGasMask_**


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